REMINISCENCES 

BY 

SYLVESTER  BARBOUR, 


A   NATIVE  OF   CANTON,    CONN. 


FIFTY    YEARS    A    LAWYER, 


AND 

APPENDIX 

CONTAINING  A  LIST  OF  THE  OFFICERS  AND  MEMBERS,  AND  A  COPY 

OF     THE     BY-LAWS     OF     PHCEBE     HUMPHREY     CHAPTER, 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION, 

OF    COLLINSVILLE,    CONNECTICUT. 


J^artfotO 
THE  CASE,  LOCKWOOD  &  BRAINARD  COMPANY 

igo8 


fnunpbrtp  Chapter 
of  tbr  ^Patiffbtrrc  of  tbr  American  Evolution 

OF    COLLINSVILLE,    CONNECTICUT 
MANY   OF   WHOSE   MEMBERS,    LIKE  MYSELF,   WERE  BORN   IN 

THE  TOWN   OF    CANTON 
THIS   UNPRETENDING   LITTLE  BOOK 

IS   DEDICATED,    WITH   THE   SINCERE   ESTEEM   OF  THE 
AUTHOR   AND   COMPILER. 


2012375 


SOME  REFERENCES  TO  CONTENTS. 


Page 

Ackert,  Peter                  .             .            .                         .             •  35 

Adams,  Gen.  Ezra         .  32,  53,  87 

"         Emerson  H.  and  Family        .             .             .  136 

-      Additional   Sketches      .             .             .  101-145 

Adventists          .             .            .            .             .  94"96 

Anecdotes  .  .  .  .      17,  27,  32,  33,  68,  83,  84,  132,  142 

Barber,   Alson   and   Family     .             .             .             .  56-62 

"       Rev.  Clarence  H.  59 

"        Harvey  and  Family  ....  138 

"        Jonathan  Sherman      .             .             .             .  138 

"        Levi      .....  48,  49 

"        Linda                .....  132 

"        Rev.  Luther  H.  57 

"        Melissa             ......  140,  141,  142 

"        Nancy  and  Family     .....  136,  137 

"        Sodosa   and   Family    .....  140-143 

"        Susan   and   Family     .....  133"I35 

"        Thirza  and  Family    .....  132 

Barker,  Ludlow               .             .             .             .             .             .  16,  107 

Barbour,  Rev.  Clarence  Augustus,  D.D.         .             .             .  113 

Edward  Payson  and  Family           .             .             .  129,  130 

Heman   Humphrey  .             .             .             .    17,  106,  108,  116,  120 

Rev.  Heman   Humphrey,  Jr.           .             .             .  no,  in 

Henry  and  Naomi  Humphrey         .             .             .  101,  130,  139 

"        Martin            .....  141 

"        Stiles                .             .             .             .             .  115,  116,   117 

Hiram            ......  31,  56 

James  Joseph             .             .             .             .             .  in,  112 

Jesse 31,  72,  77 

Rev.  John   Baptiste               ....  114 

"      John  Humphrey,  D.D.,  and   Family             .  117 
Joseph  Lane  and  Family                 .             .             .17,  108,  109 

Juliaette  and  Eliza  Naomi                 .             .             .  126,  128 

Linus              ......  77,  78 

Lucius,  and  General  Lucius  A.                   .             .  102 

"  Boarding   around "     .             .            .            .            .            .  26,  88 

Bristol,  Anson  W.          ......  144 

"         Noah   Russell   Lyman              ....  143,  144 

Brown,  William  Ely  and  Family       ....  49,  136 

"        Sherman   Ely  ......  137 

Burt,  Rev.  Jairus           ......  45,  46 

Canton,  founders    of     .             .             .             .             .             .  22,  32,  34 

named  by  whom  ?.....  32 

not  a  stain  on  its  name         ....  22 

burning  of  records  of           ....  64 

Centennial       ......  22 

Center  choir  ......  49,  137 


SOME  REFERENCES  TO  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Canton  churches            ......  44,  48,  91 

active   laymen   in    ....  49 

clergymen        ......  44,  48 

probate  judge,  first      .....  33 

lawyers  and  lawsuits-           ....  52,  53,  64 

physicians         ......  49,  50,  51 

scholars  .  ....      26,  37,  54,  88 

school  district  quarrel             ....  35 

Case,  Benj.  F.                ......  30 

Chester    and    Everett     .....  29,  30 

Elam        .......  33,  142 

Franklin                ......  29 

Mrs.  Franklin  (Lucia)  .....  30 

Gen.  Jarvis          .  .      49,  53,  55,  87 

George  Jarvis     ......  55,  87 

Levi  .  .  .  .  .  30,  31,  48,  49 

"       Norman                ......  46 

Pliny         .......  28 

Ruggles                                            .                                        .  27,  28 

"       Seymour  N.          ......  30 

Charter  Oak,  fall  of     ......  15 

Churches,  donation  parties  of               ....  45 

present  friendly  relations  of           ...  96,  98 

not  always  so          .....  96-98 

heating  of.             .             .             ...             .  67 

"  Conference   House,"   Canton   Center             .             .             .  36,  40,  67 

Courant  office,  location  and  editors  of  in  1856           .             .  15 

Dyer,  Cemetery              ......  165,  166 

Families                ......  34 

"       Mrs.  D.  T.                      .             .             .             .             .  30,  43 

East  Windsor  Theological  Seminary               .             .             .  57,  60 

Falling  Stars                   ......  69 

Foote,  Col.  Miles  and  Family              ....  130 

"       John  Mills  (deputy  sheriff)       ....  131 

Freeman,  Dr.  Orrin  B.             .....  49, -50 

Funeral    Customs          ......  65,  66 

Funeral  Invitation          ......  81 

Garrette,  Pluma  Barbour  and  Family           .             .             .  124-126 

Joseph  Warren  and  J.  Frank         .             .             .  125,  126 

Griswold,  Dr.  Chauncey  G.  30 

Hallock,  Rev.   Jeremiah            .....  44 

"Squire"  Homan       .....  45, '64 

Hartford,  business  men  in  1856,          ....  16 

clergymen         ""....  15 

lawyers                                     ....  12,  13 

physicians        ""....  16 

town  meeting  debaters        ....  17 

Hawes,  Doctor  Joel      .......  43 

Hill,   William,   President  Collins  Co.              ...  78 

Hitchcock,  "  Doc  "  Edward,  professor  in  Amherst  College  82 

Hosford's  Tavern           ......  25 

Hough,   Frederick  J.,  Asst.   Supt.  Collins  Co.           .             .  78 
Humphrey,  Families      .....              71,  75,  76,  79-81 

Mrs.  Alfred  F.      .  .  .  .  -30,  41,  76,  88 

Austin    N.                .....  65,  73 

Dwight       ......  73,  74 


vi  SOME  REFERENCES  TO  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Humphrey,  H.   Dayton              .....  79 

"        "         Jr 80 

Rev.  Heman,   D.D.  48,  56,  71 

Loin,  and  Loin  Harmon                                           .  72 

Pliny  and  Pliny  O.  73 

Rollin  Orestes  and  wife               ...  39,  73 

Solomon      ......  71 

Theophilus  and  Family  ....  72,  79 

Warren  C.             .             .             .                         .  49,  72 

Inventions  last  century  .  .  .  .          1 8,  19,  68,  85,  103 

Kasson,  Doctor  Ben  Adam      .             .             .             .             .  51,  52 

Kinney,  Mrs.  Sara  Thomson,  State  Regent  D.  A.  R.           .  38,  43 

Lane,  Lucy  Harbour     ......  118-122 

"       Rollin  D.              ......  33,  142 

"      Willis  A.            .                        .            .            .            .  122,  123 

Large   Families  .  .  .  .  .55,  56-62,  72,  140,  144 

Low  prices  in  former  days       .....  88,  92 

s-  Matches,  introduction  of           .....  68 

McLean,  Revs.  Allen  and  Charles  B.  .  47 

Merrill,  Daniel  and  Family     .....  47 

Rev.  Selah,  D.D./LLD.         ....  47 

Mills,  Ephraim              ......  32,  33,  35 

"        Simeon                 ......  35 

North  Canton  Academy            .....  36 

"         Cemetery            .....  37 

"         Churches            .....  28,  36,  91 

Old  Style  houses           ......  67,  73,  74 

Pepper  on   Stove           .             .             .             .             .             .  53.  64 

^•Perkins,  Charles  E.,  last  of  Hartford's  lawyers  of  1856       .  12 

/    Perry,  Oliver  Franklin,  Esther  Clarinda,  Wilbert  Warren  104,  105 

Phoebe  Humphrey  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  of  Collinsville,  Conn.  43,  151-166 

Sears,   President  Collins   Co.   .....  78 

Select  Schools   in   Canton          .  .  .  .  .26,  37,  53,  54 

School  Teaching  in   former  days        ....  88 

, Spelling  matches  in  former  days        ....  89,  90 

X  Smith,   Charles  H.,  Supt.   Collins  Co.             ...  78 

Spencer,  Imri  L.  and  Family  .....  133,  134 

"     A.                         I34 

Tiffany,   Doctor  Russell   H.     .....  50 

Tolling  Bell  for  deaths,  etc.    .....  65 

Tornado              .......  70 

Treat  Lambert  House               .....  25,  102 

"  Watching  "  with  the  dead     .....  66 

Weatogue           .......  25 

Weed,  Stanley  and  Family      .....  26 

Williams,  Mrs.  Ruth  Case        .             .             .             .             .  85,  88 

"     Numerous  relatives  of           ...  86-94 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


HARBOUR  DWELLING-HOUSE       ....  facing  page  101 
BARBOUR,  HEMAN  HUMPHREY  AVD  HENRY  SITLES      .  "     106 
HENRY  AND  NAOMI  HUMPHREY      .            .  "      loz 
JOSEPH    LANE    AND    REV.    HEMAN    HUM- 
PHREY, JR.         ....  "      108 
SYLVESTER  AND  EDWARD  PAYSON     .           .  "     106 
BARKER,  LUDLOW            .....  "        16 
BISSELL,  HIRAM              .....  "12 
BURT,  REV.  JAIRUS        .....  "46 
CASE,  CHESTER  AND  EVERETT    .  "          "       92 
CRANE,  DOCTOR  C.  L.  G.          .           .            .           .  "          "       16 
DYER  CEMETERY            .....  "          "     164 
DYER,    MRS.    D.    T.,    ORGANIZING    REGENT    PHCEBE 

HUMPHREY  CHAPTER,  D.  A.  R.    .           .           .  4<     152 

GARRETTE,  PLUMA  BARBOUR     ....  "     102 

GRISWOLD,  DOCTOR  CHAUNCEY  G.  "84 
HITCHCOCK,  "  Doc."  EDWARD,  PROFESSOR  IN  AMHERST 

COLLEGE       ......  "84 

HUMPHREY,  H.  DAYTON            ....  "          "       80 

MR.  AND  MRS.  ROLLIN  ORESTES  .           .  "84 

JEWELL,  PLINY    ...'...  "12 

KASSON,  DOCTOR  BEN  ADAM                K  "46 
KINNEY,     MRS.     SARA    THOMSON,     STATE    REGENT, 

D.  A.  R "      152 

LANE,  LUCY  BARBOUR,  .....  "     102 

"      ROLLIN  DWIGHT  .....  "46 
LOUGEE,    MRS.    J.    B.,    REGENT    PHCEBE    HUMPHREY 

CHAPTER,  D.  A.  R.,            .            .            .            .  "          "      152 

MCLEAN,  REV.  CHARLES  B.      .           .%          .           .  "       46 

NORTH  CANTON  ACADEMY  AND  CEMETERY      .  "36 

PAGE  HOUSE,  OLDEST  IN  CANTON          ...  "     148 
PERKINS,  CHARLES  E.,  HARTFORD'S  ONLY  LAWYER  OF 

1856 12 

PERRY,  ESTHER  C.           .            .            .            .            .  "          "      108 

PHCEBE  HUMPHREY  HOUSE        ....  "152 

RUSSELL,    DOCTOR   GURDON   W.,   ONLY   SURVIVOR  OF 

HARTFORD'S  PHYSICIANS  OF  1856  ...  "          "       12 

TALCOTT,  MAJOR  WILLIAM  H.            .  '          .           .  "          "       16 

WHITNEY,  AMOS            .           .           .           .           .  "          "       16 

WILLIAMS,  MRS.  RUTH  CASE     ....  "          "       92 


PREFACE. 

The  idea  of  issuing  this  book  did  not  originate  with 
me,  but  with  readers  of  the  newspaper  articles  who  pro- 
fessed a  desire  to  have  the  biographical  and  historical  in- 
formation contained  in  the  articles  preserved  in  a  more 
permanent  form  than  is  afforded  by  scrap-books.  It  will 
be  seen  from  what  is  said  on  page  42  how  it  came  about 
that  the  Fifty-Year  article  was  followed  up  with  others; 
and  from  what  is  said  on  page  101  how  it  came  about  that 
the  Additional  Sketches  have  been  included  in  the  book. 

The  Statistics  have  been  gathered  and  prepared  for 
publication  with  great  care,  so  that  they  might  be  reliable; 
and  it  is  believed  that  the  mistakes,  if  any,  are  very  few. 
The  letters  are  copied  from  the  newspaper,  including  the 
editorial  headings,  without  change,  except  typographical 
corrections,  and  the  insertion  in  brackets  of  a  little  ex- 
planatory matter. 

The  portraits  of  living  persons  are  printed  with  the 
willing  permission  of  those  persons,  and  those  of  deceased 
persons  by  permission  of  the  families  of  those  persons. 
The  first  eight  are  of  well  known,  highly  esteemed,  vener- 
able gentlemen,  mentioned  in  the  Fifty-Year  article.  I 
should  be  less  than  human  if  I  were  not  proud  to  be 
permitted  to  be  in  such  a  pictorial  environment. 

I  bespeak  for  the  book  the  considerate  judgment  of 
readers  critically  inclined.  I  hope  I  may  be  believed  when 
I  say,  that  my  only  motive  in  all  this  task  I  have  under- 
taken has  been  to  render  a  helpful  service  to  such  persons 
as  are  interested  in  statistics  such  as  have  been  here 
gathered  together. 

S.  B. 

Hartford,  June  20,  1908. 


[HARTFORD  TIMES,  July  16,  1906.] 


FIFTY    YEARS    A    LAWYER. 


HALF-CENTURY  RETROSPECT  BY  JUDGE  SYLVESTER 
BARBOUR  ON  His  GOLDEN  ANNIVERSARY. 


TWO    LAWYERS    OF    '56    LEFT. 


Judge  Sylvester  Barbour,  one  of  Hartford's  oldest  and 
most  respected  lawyers,  today  observed  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  entering  the  legal  profession.  Judge  Barbour 
is  in  good  health,  and  is  daily  at  his  office.  In  rounding 
out  the  half-century  of  service  as  an  attorney  he  has  the 
congratulations  of  professional  and  business  circles  of  the 
city  and  the  legal  profession  of  the  state. 

Judge  Barbour  prepared  for  THE  TIMES  the  follow- 
ing interesting  communication,  giving  a  condensed  history 
of  the  professional  life  of  Hartford  for  fifty  years,  the 
details  being  carefully  verified: 

To  the  Editor  of  THE  TIMES  : 

A  certificate  I  hold,  signed  by  James  Nichols,  assistant 
clerk  of  the  superior  court,  brings  to  my  mind  a  pleasant 
experience  T  had  fifty  years  ago  tonight,  having  had  the 
honor  of  spending  that  evening  in  the  Hon.  Richard  D. 
Hubbard's  office,  now  that  of  George  G.  Sill,  undergoing 
an  examination,  conducted  by  Mr.  Hubbard  as  a  commit- 
tee of  the  court,  followed  the  next  day  by  my  admission 
to  the  bar,  upon  his  recommendation.  A  half-century 
retrospect  may  be  of  interest  to  some  of  your  readers,  as 
it  is  to  me. 

There  are  today  but  two  lawyers  living  who  were  then 
residing  and  practicing  in  Hartford  —  Mr.  Sill  and 


12  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

Charles  E.  Perkins,  the  latter  now  the  acknowledged  and 
beloved  leader  of  the  Hartford  county  bar;  and,  in  pass- 
ing, I  might  say,  he  seems  as  alert  and  zealous  in  his 
practice  in  his  seventy-fifth  year  as  he  was  in  his  twenty- 
fifth,  and  that,  with  habits  calculated  to  promote  longevity, 
he  ought  to  be  good  for  another  twenty-five  years,  and 
thus,  with  Russell  Sage,  "  expect  to  reach  par."  [Mr. 
Sill  died  May  i9th,  1907.] 

Among  the  older  lawyers,  fifty  years  ago,  were 
Thomas  C.  Perkins,  Isaac  Toucey,  William  Hungerford, 
Francis  Parsons,  Charles  Chapman,  and  William  W. 
Eaton.  In  physiognomy  and  eloquence,  Mr.  Perkins  re- 
minded me  of  Henry  Clay.  It  was  a  treat  to  see  and 
hear  him  argue  a  case  in  court,  his  animated  countenance 
and  whole  frame  showing  the  intense  interest  he  had  in 
his  cause.  Five  years  later  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
supreme  court,  but  he  declined  to  accept,  partly,  perhaps, 
because  of  the  ridiculously  small  salary  then  paid.  Mr. 
Hungerford  was  conceded  to  be  the  most  learned  lawyer 
at  that  time.  For  many  years  he  had  as  a  partner  Wil- 
liam R.  Cone,  who  possessed  rare  business  and  financial 
ability,  the  firm  amassing  wealth,  one  evidence  of  which 
was  the  erection  by  them  of  the  Hartford  Trust  company 
block;  Mr.  Parsons  was  eminent  in  character  and  sound 
in  counsel;  Mr.  Eaton,  grave  and  impressive  in  manner, 
in  great  demand  for  jury  trials;  and  Mr.  Chapman  was 
admitted  by  all  to  be  without  a  peer  in  the  trial  of  criminal 
cases,  keenest  in  wit,  retort  and  sarcasm,  and  so  adroit 
and  subtle  in  the  cross-examination  of  witnesses  that  it  is 
doubtful  if  he  ever  failed  to  expose  perjury  when 
attempted  by  a  witness  whom  he  was  cross-examining. 
The  venerable  ex-Chief  Justice  Thomas  S.  Williams  was 
then  living.  He  was  a  man  of  attractive  simplicity  and 
benignity.  Mr.  Parsons's  mother  was  his  sister. 

Among  the  younger  prominent  lawyers  at  that  time 
were  Richard  D.  Hubbard,  previously  and  subsequently 
state's  attorney;  William  D.  Shipman,  Henry  K.  W. 


CHARLES  E.  PERKINS 
Born  March  21,  1832. 


GURDON  W.  RUSSELL,   M.D. 
Born  April  10,  1815. 


HIRAM   BISSELL 
Born  Aug.  12,  1818. 

After  strenuous  contention,  he  originated  the  Hart- 
ford Water  Supply  System,  and  was  the  first  Presi- 
dent. 


PLINY  JEWELL 
Born  Sept.  i,  1823. 

President  of  the  Jewell  Belting  Co.,  established  in 
1848,  by  Pliny,  the  father,  and  sons,  and  since  con- 
tinued. 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  13 

Welch,  Nathaniel  Shipman,  George  S.  Oilman,  and 
Lucius  F.  Robinson.  The  latter  was  less  impassioned 
and  florid  in  speech  .than  his  brother  Henry,  but  was  an 
accomplished  scholar  and  learned  lawyer,  well  adapted 
for  a  place  on  the  bench  of  the  supreme  court.  His 
intimate  friend,  Judge  Storrs,  of  that  court,  recognized 
that  quality  in  Mr.  Robinson,  and  several  of  the  opinions 
handed  down  by  the  former  are  known  to  have  been  writ- 
ten by  the  latter,  among  them  that  in  the  very  important 
case  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  company 
vs.  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad 
company  (25  Conn.,  271).  That  case  involved  the 
application  of  common  law  principles,  and  three  of  the 
ablest  lawyers  in  the  state,  William  Hungerford,  Wil- 
liam D.  Shipman  and  Roger  S.  Baldwin,  were  counsel  in 
the  case.  Like  Mr.  Welch,  Mr.  Robinson  possessed  rare 
amiability,  and  there  was  very  sincere  mourning  by  their 
brethren  and  the  community  when  they  died  in  midlife. 
Eminent  as  the  bar  of  this  County  has  ever  been,  it  is 
doubtful  if  it  was  ever  more  so  than  then.  The  Perkins 
family  is  unique  in  this  county,  in  that  it  has  had  a  repre- 
sentation in  four  successive  generations :  Enoch,  Thomas 
C.,  Charles  E.  and  Arthur,  all  college  educated  and  prom- 
inent as  lawyers.  The  family  having  the  nearest  approach 
to  that  honor  is  that  of  Waldo  and  Hyde;  Judge  Waldo, 
son-in-law,  Alvan  P.,  grandson,  William  Waldo,  and 
great-grandson  Alvan  Waldo  Hyde.  There  have  been 
several  instances  of  three  generations  having  such  repre- 
sentatives, Judge  Asa,  Charles  and  Charles  R.  Chapman; 
Francis,  John  C.  and  Francis  Parsons;  Aholiab,  J.  War- 
ren and  Warren  B.  Johnson;  William  N.,  William  L. 
and  William  R.  Matson;  Thomas,  Thomas  M.  and 
Arthur  P.  Day.  The  first  named  of  the  last  three  for  a 
time  was  judge  of  the  county  court,  and  for  many  years 
supreme  court  reporter,  and  at  his  death,  in  1855,  able 
eulogies,  commemorative  of  his  life  and  work,  were  pro- 


I4  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

nounced  by  bench  and  bar;  Thomas  M.  practiced  for  some 
years,  then  became  editor  of  THE  HARTFORD  COURANT, 
dying  recently  at  an  advanced  age;  Arthur  being  now  en- 
gaged in  legal  work  connected  with  the  Connecticut  Trust 
and  Safe  Deposit  company.  Judges  Calhoun  and  Briscoe 
were  then  practicing  in  this  county,  the  former  residing 
in  Manchester,  and  the  latter  then,  as  now,  in  Enfield. 
As  shown  by  the  Register  the  list  of  lawyers  was  then 
50,  now  175,  with  frequent  accessions. 

The  judges  of  the  supreme  and  superior  court,  up  to 
1856,  held  office  "during  good  behavior,"  though  then, 
as  now,  only  to  the  age  of  70.  The  eight-year  term  for 
those  judges  began  that  year.  The  county  court,  which 
had  criminal  as  well  as  civil  jurisdiction,  was  abolished 
the  year  previous,  to  the  displeasure  of  eight  judges,  who 
were  thus  legislated  out  of  office.  That  court  then  ap- 
pointed the  state's  attorneys.  The  recorder  of  the  city 
court  then,  and  until  1873,  sat  with  two  associate  lay 
judges,  who,  like  himself,  were  appointed  by  the  common 
council.  The  year  before,  Hon.  Eliphalet  A.  Bulkeley, 
the  senator's  father,  was  recorder,  and  Gurdon  Trumbull 
and  Nathaniel  H.  Morgan  were  the  associates;  Nathaniel 
Shipman  was  clerk,  Lucius  F.  Robinson,  city  attorney; 
Goodwin  Collier  was  judge  of  the  police  court  and  Ben- 
ning  Mann,  clerk,  the  judge  being  then,  and  until  1871, 
appointed  by  the  common  council.  There  was  no  prose- 
cuting attorney  of  that  court  until  1875,  grand  jurors 
having  before  that  acted  as  the  prosecuting  officers  in  that 
court.  Henry  Francis  was  town  clerk.  He  is  immortal- 
ized by  his  unique,  neat  and  very  legible  penmanship  on 
the  land  records  of  the  town ;  Henry  C.  Deming,  lawyer, 
courtly  gentleman,  silver-tongued  orator,  was  mayor;  Ezra 
Clark  was  in  congress  from  this  district;  William  T. 
Miner,  governor;  Nehemiah  D.  Sperry,  secretary  of  the 
state,  and  now  the  only  survivor  of  the  state  officers  of 
that  year;  Hiram  Bissell  was  president  of  the  board  of 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  15 

water  commissioners.  The  COURANT  office  was  in  the 
second  story  of  the  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Mafn  and  Pratt  streets,  Thomas  M.  Day  being  the  editor 
and  Abel  N.  Clark  office  manager.  The  post-office  was  in 
the  building  connected  with  THE  TIMES  office.  William 
James  Hamersley,  the  judge's  father,  was  postmaster.  At 
that  time  the  area  of  the  city  was  not  quite  one-fourth 
what  it  now  is,  the  west  line  being  about  where  Sigourney 
street  is.  The  Charter  Oak  blew  down  on  August  2 1 
of  that  year.  I  visited  it  more  than  once  during  the  two 
or  three  days  it  lay  prostrate,  and,  as  I  recall  its  scraggy 
form,  in  trunk  and  limbs,  apparently  furnishing  very  little 
material  for  constructing  anything,  I  am  amused  at  the 
stories  told  of  the  many  things  produced  from  it.  Mark 
Twain  fitly,  in  an  indirect  way,  showed  the  absurdity  of 
these  stories,  when,  in  his  address  of  welcome  to  ex-Presi- 
dent Grant,  on  his  visit  to  Hartford  after  his  journey 
around  the  world,  he  spoke  of  Hartford  as  "  the  home  of 
the  famous  Charter  Oak,  out  of  which  most  of  the  city 
had  been  built."  The  humor  of  the  remark  was  too  much 
for  the  placid  face  of  the  general,  he  even  smiled. 

Not  a  clergyman  now  here  was  here  in  1856.  The 
pulpits  were  ably  filled,  the  pastors  of  the  churches  being 
Dr.  Bushnell  of  the  North  Congregational,  worshiping  in 
the  building  now  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and 
Morgan  streets;  Dr.  Hawes  in  the  Center;  Dr.  Walter 
Clark  in  the  South  Congregational;  Mr.  Beadle  in  Pearl 
street  (now  Farmington  avenue)  ;  Mr.  Abercrombie  in 
Christ;  Mr.  Washburn  in  St.  John's;  Mr.  William  W. 
Patton  in  Fourth  Congregational ;  Father  Hughes  in  St. 
Patrick's;  Dr.  Murdock  in  South  Baptist;  Charles  R. 
Fisher  in  Market  Street  Episcopal;  Mr.  Kelsey  in  Meth- 
odist Episcopal,  worshiping  in  the  building  on  the  corner 
of  Trumbull  and  Chapel  streets,  now  occupied  by  ex-Sen- 
ator C.  C.  Cook  for  an  office  and  lumber  business;  Thomas 
S.  Childs  in  Presbyterian,  in  their  church  edifice  on  the 


t6  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Sheldon  streets,  not  long 
before  that  bought  from  the  South  Baptists  on  the  latter 
moving  into  their  new  church  across  the  street;  Moses 
Ballou  in  the  Universalist,  in  their  church  edifice  on  Cen- 
tral Row,  they  moving  four  years  later  to  their  church  on 
Main  street,  which  they  have  just  vacated;  Dr.  Turnbull 
in  North  Baptist,  they  having  recently  left  their  edifice, 
standing  where  the  store  of  Brown  &  Thomson  now  stands, 
that  edifice  thereafter  for  a  while  being  known  as  Turo 
hall,  and  used  for  public  meetings. 

Among  the  surviving  business  men  of  that  day  are 
*Thomas  Sisson,  Ludlow  Barker,  Hiram  Bissell,  *Aner 
Sperry,  *David  Rood,  Ex-Chief  Henry  J.  Eaton,  Henry 
K.  Morgan,  Pliny  Jewell,  William  Francis,  F.  R.  Slocum, 
Major  William  H.  Talcott,  *Daniel  Stevens,  John  Allen, 
Amos  Whitney,  Hiram  Loomis,  and  George  W.  Tuller, 
the  latter  being  in  the  clothing  business  where  the  Courant 
building  now  stands.  [*Since  died.] 

Among  the  leading  physicians  were  Drs.  Gurdon  W. 
Russell,  Beresford,  Barrows,  Crary,  Sr.,  and  Curtiss,  the 
first  named  being  the  only  one  now  living.  Dr.  Crane  is 
the  only  surviving  dentist;  then,  as  now,  at  No.  8  State 
street. 

The  year  1856  was  most  exciting,  politically.  Slavery 
agitation  was  at  its  highest.  Because  of  it,  it  took  nine 
weeks  to  organize  the  house  of  representatives  that  met  in 
December  previous,  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  being  elected 
speaker  on  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-third  ballot,  by  a 
plurality  of  three,  not  a  member  from  a  slave  state  voting 
for  him.  Senator  Charles  Sumner  was  brutally  assaulted 
and  nearly  killed  in  the  senate  chamber  by  Representative 
Preston  S.  Brooks,  of  South  Carolina,  incensed  by  a 
Speech  the  senator  had  made  on  "  The  Crime  Against 
Kansas."  It  was  three  years  before  Mr.  Sumner  was 
able  to  resume  his  seat  in  the  senate.  After  a  sharp  con- 
test to  prevent  the  renomination  of  Franklin  Pierce,  whose 


DR.  S.  L.  G.  CRANE. 


LUDLOW  BARKER. 


AMOS  WHITNEY, 
Born  Oct.  8,  1832. 


MAJ.  WM.  H.  TOLLCOTT, 
Born  Feb.  17,  1831. 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  i  j 

ft 

attitude  on  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  territories  had 
been  unsatisfactory  to  many  northern  democrats,  the 
contest  being  carried  on  in  behalf  of  Douglas  and  Bu- 
chanan, the  latter  was  nominated  at  Cincinnati  on  the 
seventeenth  ballot.  Heman  H.  Barbour,  Joseph's  father, 
was  in  the  convention  and  among  the  most  ardent  sup- 
porters of  Buchanan.  He  took  the  stump,  making  many 
speeches.  Having  resided  and  campaigned  in  the  west, 
where  joint  debates  were  common,  he  invited  the  repub- 
licans to  select  their  champion  to  accompany  him  in  the 
joint  canvass  of  this  part  of  the  state.  Joseph  R.  Hawley, 
then  a  young  lawyer,  practicing  in  company  with  John 
Hooker,  was  chosen,  a  selection  pleasing  to  Mr.  Barbour. 
These  champions  addressed  large  audiences  in  an  immense 
wigwam,  erected  on  the  present  site  of  Park  church  and 
adjoining  buildings,  and  in  other  towns,  Mr.  Hawley 
advocating  the  election  of  Fremont,  and  Mr.  Barbour, 
Buchanan.  A  pleasing  circumstance,  as  I  now  look  back, 
is  the  fact  that  Joseph,  then  in  his  tenth  year,  was  shout- 
ing vigorously  for  Buchanan,  making  speeches  to  gath- 
erings of  his  numerous  younger  brothers,  and  neighbors' 
boys,  attracted  by  his  budding  oratory.  Doubtless  he 
was  then  as  successful  in  captivating  his  infantile  audi- 
ences, as  he  is  now  those  of  adult  years.  Mr.  Eaton  and 
Mr.  Hamersley  did  good  work  on  the  stump.  Mr.  Ham- 
ersley was  a  man  of  imposing  presence,  tall,  erect,  and 
stately,  and  an  effective  speaker.  Mr.  Barbour  was  a 
candidate  for  postmaster  under  Buchanan,  the  contest 
being  prolonged  and  sharp,  Mr.  Hamersley  winning,  and 
being  reappointed. 

In  those  days  the  town  meeting  was  the  arena  of 
sharp  debates,  and  Hartford  had  able  champions  therein. 
Prominent  among  them  were  Messrs.  A.  E.  Burr,  James 
G.  Batterson,  Mark  Howard,  John  L.  Bunce,  presi- 
dent of  the  Phoenix  bank,  always  stately  and  aggressive, 
in  his  swallow-tailed  coat  and  trim  black  cravat,  and 


jg  BARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 

Thomas  T.  Fisher  (father  of  Major  George  B.),  these 
men  rarely  failing  to  be  present  to  work  for  good  govern- 
ment. In  debate  Mr.  Fisher  was  a  match  for  the  others, 
which  is  saying  much,  and  in  repartee  he  was  as  keen  as 
Mr.  Edward  S.  Cleveland,  of  later  days.  I  recall  one 
instance,  when  he  made  an  impassioned  speech,  advocat- 
ing an  important  matter,  and  an  opponent,  in  replying 
to  him,  accused  him  of  being  angry,  when,  quick  as  a  flash, 
Mr.  Fisher  interrupted  him  with  St.  Paul's  retort,  0"  I 
am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  but  speak  forth  the  words 
of  truth  and  soberness." 

I  recall,  with  great  pleasure,  instances  of  warm  per- 
sonal friendship  between  the  most  ardent  political  an- 
tagonists; for  example,  these  —  Mr.  Burr  and  Mr.  Bat- 
terson,  Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Hawley,  and  Mr.  Hawley 
and  Mr.  Barbour.  Each  man  of  these  pairs  saw  in  the 
other  a  sincere,  fearless  man,  having  the  courage  of  his 
convictions,  whom  he  could  not  but  respect ;  it  being  true, 
as  was  fitly  remarked  recently  by  Judge  Harmon,  in  an 
address  made  at  the  funeral  of  his  friend,  Governor  Pat- 
tison,  of  Ohio:  "Sincerity  and  bravery  will  always  win 
friends." 

And  now,  Mr.  Editor,  please  permit  me,  in  closing, 
by  way  of  pleasantry,  to  indulge  in  a  little  homely  poetry, 
making  some  contrast  between  1856  and  1906: 

Compared  with  time  that  went  before, 

Fifty  years  are  but  a  mere  span.       * 
Yet,  when  we  think  the  matter  o'er, 

In  it,  what  wonders  wrought  by  man! 

In  eighteen  hundred  fifty-six, 

No  telephone,  no  car  on  street, 
Nothing  but  cry  of  "  Fire!  "  to  fix 

The  place  for  the  firemen  to  meet. 

No  machine  to  do  man's  writing, 

Save  his  old  quill  and  metal  pen; 
Poor  woman  could  not  do  a  thing 

To  help  the  weary  business  men; 


BARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES  TQ 

. 

Now,  where'er  we  go,  we  find  her  — 

In  shop,  store,  office,  college,  too, 
Doing  what  God  designed  her  for, 

Happy,  finding  something  to  do. 

Then,  it  took  a  full  week,  and  more, 

To  get  news  over  the  ocean; 
Now,  we  get  it  from  farthest  shore 

In  a  minute,  under  ocean. 

"  We  call  our  fathers  fools,  so  wise  we  grow, 

No  doubt  our  wiser  sons  will  [yes,  can]  call  us  so." 

Hartford,  July  16,  1906.  S.  B. 


[HARTFORD  TIMES,  Editorial  July  16,  1906.] 


FIFTY  YEARS  AGO. 

The  letter  of  Judge  Sylvester  Barbour,  which  is 
printed  on  page  3,  goes  back  beyond  the  memory  of  most 
readers  of  this  paper,  for  it  begins  with  the  day  just  fifty 
years  ago  when  Mr.  Barbour  passed  his  examination  for 
admission  to  the  Hartford  bar.  His  examination  was  by 
R.  D.  Hubbard,  long  since  gone  over  to  the  majority, 
and  of  the  lawyers  of  that  time  in  Hartford,  only  two 
survive,  George  G.  Sill  and  Charles  E.  Perkins.  The 
examination  was  in  what  is  now  the  office  of  Mr.  Sill. 
Out  of  the  stores  of  recollections  due  to  a  long  life,  a 
good  memory  and  a  wide  acquaintance,  Judge  Barbour 
makes  a  paper  of  lively  interest,  not  least  in  his  brief 
characterizations  of  the  men  of  the  older  days.  Among 
the  older  lawyers  at  that  time,  he  speaks  of  Thomas  C. 
Perkins,  second  or  third  in  a  line  of  lawyers  by  descent, 
which  has  continued  through  three  later  generations,  and 
who  reminded  him,  in  physiognomy  and  eloquence,  of 
Henry  Clay;  Isaac  Toucey,  afterwards  senator  and  sec- 
retary of  the  navy;  William  Hungerford,  whom  he  con- 
siders the  most  learned  lawyer  of  the  time;  Francis  Par- 
sons, Charles  Chapman  and  William  W.  Eaton.  He 
mentions  Chief  Justice  Williams,  who  was  then  living, 
and  among  the  younger  lawyers  of  his  early  days  he 
speaks  of  Richard  D.  Hubbard,  William  D.  Shipman, 
Henry  K.  W.  Welch,  Nathaniel  Shipman,  George  S.  Gil- 
man  and  Lucius  F.  Robinson.  He  says  much  more  about 
the  bar.  Passing  on  to  later  times,  he  notes  that  not  one 
of  the  clergymen  of  1856  is  now  living.  He  recalls  many 
old  business  men,  who  will  prove  well  known  to  the  older 
readers;  he  notes  that  Dr.  Gurdon  W.  Russell  is  the  only 
physician  of  1856  now  living;  he  tells  something  of  the 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  21 

height  of  the  anti-slavery  discussion  at  that  time.  In  a 
word,  he  takes  the  readers  back  to  days  which  are  merely 
historical  to  most  of  them,  and,  in  a  perfectly  simple  way, 
sets  them  forth,  so  that  in  place  of  mere  names,  there 
comes  something  like  a  feeling  of  acquaintance,  even  to 
those  not  yet  old  enough  to  have  had  personal  knowledge 
of  many  of  .these  men,  even  in  their  later  days. 

It  is  a  delightful  letter,  kindly  observant,  and  aston- 
ishingly young  in  spirit  for  a  man  who  has  practiced  fifty 
years  at  the  bar.  It  is  a  pity  not  to  have  more  of  these 
reminiscences,  especially  the  professional  ones  which  prob- 
ably appealed  most  strongly  to  the  writer,  for  they  show 
a  gift  at  characterization  which  is  rather  rare  and  is  worth 
mudi  indiscriminate  cataloguing  of  details. 


[HARTFORD  TIMES,  July  19,  1906.] 


THE  CANTON  CENTENNIAL  ANNIVERSARY. 


POEM  BY  HARTFORD  LAWYER  —  JUDGE  SYLVESTER 
BARBOUR. 


Judge  Barbour's  verses  were  entitled  "  Salutation  to 
Canton,"  and  he  recited  them  just  before  the  close  of  the 
forenoon's  exercises.  There  was  a  manifestation  of 
pleasure  by  the  assembly,  and  personal  appreciation  by 
several  prominent  ones  on  the  platform  at  the  delivery 
of  the  salutation.  THE  TIMES  prints  the  poem  in  full : 

SALUTATION  TO  CANTON. 
Hail!    Canton,  one  hundred  years  old; 

Prom  far  and  near  we're  gathered  here, 
Where  we  were  born,  as  we've  been  told, 

To  celebrate  thy  natal  year. 

We've  come  to  talk  about  that  year, 

When  thou  wert  born,  so  long  ago; 
We've  come  to  thank  Simsbury,  dear, 

For  so  kindly  letting  thee  go. 

No  one  of  us  was  living  then, 

As  we  so  much  regret  to  say, 
Though  some  are  more  than  three-score  ten, 

And  glad  to  see  this  festal  day. 

We're  proud  to  own  thee  our  mother, 

There's  not  a  stain  upon  thy  name, 
As  a  town  there's  not  another 

More  free  from  aught  to  cause  one  shame. 

The  older  ones  of  our  numbers 

Well  knew  the  staunch  and  upright  men 

Who  acted  as  thy  founders, 

We  revered  them,  we  children,  then. 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  23 

And  ever  since  our  childhood  days, 

Scores  upon  scores  of  like  good  men 
Have  ruled  thee  in  true,  honest  ways, 

Would  there  were  time  to  mention  them. 

Most  of  them  have  gone  to  their  rest, 

Their  lives  of  faithful  service  o'er, 
And  we  hope  they're  among  the  blest 

On  yon  bright  and  heavenly  shore. 

May  each  coming  generation 

In  like  manner,  in  honesty, 
Govern  thee,  beloved  Canton, 

During  the  coming  century. 

And  may  the  next  celebration, 

To  be  held  in  two-thousand-six, 
Be  as  joyous  to  thee,  Canton, 

As  is  this  in  nineteen-nought-six. 

No  one  of  us  will  be  here  then, 

As  none  of  us  was  at  thy  birth; 
God  grant  us,  then,  a  home  in  heaven, 

As,  one  by  one,  we've  passed  from  earth. 


[HARTFORD  TIMES,  Oct.  15,  1906.] 


VISIT  TO  HIS  NATIVE  TOWN. 


REMINISCENCES  BY  JUDGE  SYLVESTER  BARBOUR,  IN 
CONNECTION  WITH  A  SUNDAY  RIDE  TO  CANTON. 


To  the  Editor  of  THE  TIMES: 

On  a  recent  Sunday  I  took  a  delightful  drive  into  the 
country,  one  that  I  can  recommend  to  others,  fond  of 
hill,  dale,  now  and  then  a  fertile  field,  wild  scenery,  and 
beautiful  views  from  mountains.  I  am  sure  Dr.  M.  and 
his  dentist  companion  would  be  delighted  with  it.  I  wish 
I  had  the  gifts  of  the  former  for  describing  it.  One 
should  take  the  precaution,  which  I  did,  to  have  a  horse 
afraid  of  nothing,  and  controllable  in  all  situations,  for 
the.  traveled  part  of  the  highway  in  many  places  is  little 
more  than  a  good  cart  path,  say 'eight  or  nine  feet  wide, 
making  it  difficult  for  teams  to  pass  on  meeting,  not  to 
mention  the  on-rushing,  frightening  automobile.  Doubt- 
less the  highway  was  originally  laid  out  of  suitable  width; 
but  as  it  costs  less  labor  to  maintain  a  narrow  way  than 
a  broad  one,  bushes,  trees  and  rocks  have  been  allowed 
to  occupy  the  major  part  of  what  land  belongs  to  the 
public,  but  the  road,  what  there  is  of  it,  is  kept  in  good 
condition.  My  friends  out  there  need  not  chide  me  for 
this  seeming  criticism,  for,  as  a  country  boy  among  the 
hills,  accustomed  to  assist  in  the  repair  of  roads,  I  well 
know  what  a  great  burden  it  is  for  the  taxpayers  in 
sparsely  settled  towns  to  keep  their  highways  in  repair. 
A  spin  on  the  dirt  road  of  the  country  must  be  very 
pleasing  to  the  city  horse,  accustomed  to  the  hard  pave- 
ments. The  undulations,  though  sometimes  mountains, 
must  contribute  to  his  comfort,  in  that  different  muscles 
of  the  body  are  brought  into  use  alternately.  The 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  25 

monotony  of  dead-level  prairie  travel  is  very  fatiguing 
to  man,  as  I  have  learned  from  tramps  upon  it,  and  must 
be  so  to  the  horse. 

My.  drive  took  in  my  beloved  native  town,  Canton; 
the  route  out  being  the  north  way,  over  Talcott  moun- 
tain, through  that  most  quiet,  restful  little  village,  Wea- 
togue,  peopled  in  summer  considerably  by  city  folk;  on 
through  West  Simsbury,  formerly  known  as  Case's  farms; 
on  over  a  winding  elevation,  down  into  that  staid  village, 
North  Canton,  not  much  given  to  changes;  thence  around 
another  considerable  elevation,  to  the  dearest  spot  on 
earth  to  me,  the  old  house  where  I  was  born,  on  the  rug- 
ged farm  connected  with  which  my  early  life  was  happily 
spent  in  hard  toil,  rendering  such  assistance  as  I  could 
to  my  parents,  who  were  struggling  to  rear  and  support 
a  large  family;  thence  down  by  more  hilly,  winding  road, 
a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  old  Treat  Lambert  house,  so 
called,  in  an  older  annex  to  which  my  father  was  born 
(that  annex  having  been  removed  in  recent  years),  on 
which  mile  and  a  half  of  lonely  road  there  are  but  two 
houses,  a  road  we  children  traveled  on  foot,  going  to 
school,  most  of  us  beginning  such  experience  at  the  age 
of  three  years;  thence  to  and  through  Canton  center, 
where  was  built  the  first  church  in  town,  to  a  point  in  the 
old  tufnpike  road  from  Hartford  to  Albany  (so  much 
traveled  for  transporting  goods  between  those  cities  before 
the  days  of  railroads),  near  Cherry  Brook  railroad  sta- 
tion; thence  on  past  the  ruins  of  Hosford's  tavern  (from 
which  a  moneyed  traveler  mysteriously  once  disappeared, 
heavenward,  in  the  opinion  of  the  late  Congressman 
Simonds,  as  expressed  in  a  magazine  article)  ;  on  through 
Canton  village,  formerly  more  generally  known  as  Suf- 
frage, for  what  reason  I  don't  know,  a  village  one  would 
readily  recognize  if  he  hadn't  seen  it  for  seventy-five 
years;  on  through  Avon,  and  over  the  mountain,  up  and 
down  which  the  late  Charles  F.  Rustemeyer  many  times 


26  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

drove  his  double-decker,  four-horse  omnibus,  with  never 
a  mishap;  and  thence  through  West  Hartford  and  Eliza- 
beth Park,  home.  I  doubt  if  a  more  delightful  drive  here- 
about can  be  found,  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  love  of 
country. 

A  half-hour  was  most  pleasantly  spent  in  a  call  upon 
each  of  three  estimable  ladies,  beloved  pupils  of  mine, 
fifty-four  years  ago,  in  a  select  school  I  had  the  honor  of 
teaching  in  the  little  schoolhouse,  near  Adams's  corner 
—  namely,  Miss  Martha  Weed,  her  sister-in-law,  Mrs. 
Antoinette  (Case)  Weed,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  (Case)  Vining. 
Mrs.  Weed  lives  with  her  brother,  James,  where  their 
father,  Stanley  Weed,  long  resided.  I  remember  the 
latter  as  an  ardent,  lifelong  democrat,  with  whom,  as  a 
whig  boy,  I  had  pleasant,  instructive  arguments  (for  he 
was  a  man  of  great  intelligence) ,  during  the  few  nights 
I  spent  at  his  house.  In  those  days  teachers  "  boarded 
around  "  considerably,  a  practice  that  gave  the  teachers 
a  chance  to  get  acquainted  with  parents.  In  that  respect 
it  is  much  to  be  commended,  for  it  is  about  the  only  way 
in  which  teachers  can  have  the  acquaintance  which  is  so 
beneficial  to  the  school.  The  first  three  terms  of  my  teach- 
ing experience  I  boarded  around,  and  I  bear  witness  to 
much  enjoyment  while  being  as  royally  entertained  as 
the  means  of  the  hosts  would  permit.  In  those  days  the 
school  teacher  and  minister  were  considerable  personages 
in  the  country.  There  was  one  little  experience  connected 
with  boarding  around  that  I  remember  particularly, 
namely,  retiring  to  the  fireless  spare  room  on  a  cold,  wintry 
night,  to  receive  a  shock  from  the  icy-cold  sheets,  equal  in 
benefit,  though,  I  doubt  not,  to  a  cold-water  bath,  for 
producing  sleep.  In  those  moments  thus  spent  in  com- 
posing myself  for  sleep,  I  sometimes  wondered  if  the  last 
human  occupant  of  the  room  were  not  a  dead  one.  I  was 
senselessly  spookish  about  such  things.  My  childish  dread 
of  dead  persons  continued  to  haunt  me  somewhat  in  after 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


27 


years.  I  remember  with  what  quickened  step  I  would, 
when  a  child,  go  past  a  graveyard  in  the  darkness  of 
night;  how,  for  several  nights,  after  attending  a  funeral, 
I  would  bury  my  face  beneath  the  bed  covering,  as  if, 
more  effectually,  to  shut  out  the  haunting  face  of  the  dead 
one.  Perhaps  my  horror,  in  the  respect  referred  to,  is 
not  common  with  children,  and  with  older  persons.  Cer- 
tainly a  relative  of  mine  was  more  sensible,  of  whom  my 
mother  used  to  speak.  His  wife  died,  she  was  laid  out  in 
their  bedroom,  and,  owing  to  limited  sleeping  accommo- 
dations, he  was  seen  to  be  making  preparations  for  occu- 
pying a  bed  in  that  room  for  the  night.  On  being  remon- 
strated with  for  so  doing,  he  said: 

"Sarah  never  did  me  any  harm  while  alive,   and  !• 
don't  think  she  will  now." 

He  retired,  as  contemplated,  and  soon  gave  audible 
evidence  that  he  had  lapsed  into  sleep.  Even  now,  it  seems 
to  me,  no  amount  of  money  could  tempt  me  to  pass 
through  such  an  ordeal.  What  more  awe-inspiring  than 
the  silence  of  the  dead! 

Stanley  Weed  was  born  November  30,  1806,  the  year 
Canton  was  set  off  from  Simsbury,  and  died  November  4, 
1884.  His  son  George,  my  pupil,  was  born  April  7,  1835, 
and  died  May  22,  1902.  The  latter's  widow  is  tenderly 
caring  for  her  father,  Mr.  Everett  Case.  Mrs.  Vining 
makes  her  home  at  the  General  Ezra  Adams  house,  with 
her  daughter,  wife  of  Henry  Adams,  grandson  of  the 
general.  [Everett  Case  has  since  died.] 

Mrs.  Vining's  father,  Ruggles  Case,  was  one  of  the 
most  respected  citizens  of  Canton,  a  lifelong  democrat. 
He  lived  to  an  advanced  age.  About  1820  he  erected  a 
shop,  in  which  he  established  and  for  very  many  years 
carried 'on  blacksmithing.  I  vividly  remember  watching 
him  many  times,  shoeing  horses  and  oxen  I  had  ridden  and 
driven  there,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  to  be  shod.  In 
those  days  the  blacksmith  made  his  own  shoes  and  nails,  a 


2g  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

work  largely  done  at  the  time  of  shoeing,  and  which  kept 
the  by-standers  dodging  the  particles  of  red-hot  iron  fly- 
ing about  while  the  iron  was  being  hammered  into  shape 
for  use.  Mr.  Case's  devotion  to  his  business  was  so  close, 
intense  and  long-continued,  that  he  became  greatly  bowed 
in  form.  His  shop  still  stands,  somewhat  aged  in  appear- 

*ance,  but  otherwise  just  as  it  was  sixty-five  years  ago,  when 
I  first  began  to  visit  it  for  the  purpose  I  have  indicated, 
a  grandson  succeeding  to  the  business.  The  old  red 
schoolhouse,  formerly  used  for  the  lower  grades  of 
scholars,  near  the  blacksmith  shop,  was  sold  by  the  dis- 
trict to  Ruggles  Case,  and  is  now7  used  by  his  son  Henry 
as  a  storehouse,  across  the  street.  A  new  schoolhouse 
to  take  its  place  was  erected  in  1872,  and  the  year  before 

\the  Methodists  built  an  attractive  wooden  church,  near  by. 
Mr.  Pliny  Case,  a  veteran  blacksmith  at  the  center,  in 
those  days  had  his  share  of  the  town's  patronage.  He  was 
a  staunch  democrat,  highly  respected  by  everybody.  His 
widow  (second  wife),  a  very  intelligent  woman,  for  many 
years  a  successful  school  teacher,  occupies  the  homestead. 
His  shop  which,  till  lately,  like  the  one  of  the  other  Mr. 
Case,  remained  unchanged  in  appearance,  has  passed  into 
other  hands  and  has  been  renovated.  There  is  nothing 
significant  in  the  coincidence  of  the  names  of  these  black- 
smiths, for,  in  those  days,  a  large  percentage  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  agricultural  part  of  Canton  bore  that 
name,  so  much  so  that  it  was  sometimes  facetiously  re- 
marked that  a  stranger  coming  into  town  and  meeting  a 
man  whom  he  did  not  know  might  pretty  safely  address 
him  as  Mr.  Case,  and,  if  that  name  proved  a  misfit,  call 
him  Mr.  Barbour,  a  name  common  there  then.  Those 
names  are  not  so  largely  represented  there  now,  though 
the  Cases  are  still  quite  numerous.  There  have  not  been 
many  millionaires  among  the  Canton  Cases,  but  in  general 
thrift  and  respectability  they  have  not  been  excelled  there. 
Hard  cases  among  them  have  been  rare,  so  rare,  that  I 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES  29 

recall  but  one,  and  he  was  all  right  except  that  he  was 
dreadfully  profane,  though  his  profanity  was  confined 
mostly  to  his  oxen,  in  the  breaking  and  handling  of  which, 
notwithstanding,  he  was  a  splendid  master.  I  shall  not 
be  so  impolite  as  to  mention  his  name;  perhaps  some  of 
the  older  people  out  there  can  guess  to  whom  I  refer.  It 
ought  to  be  said,  however,  that  later  in  lif^he  ceased  the 
habit  referred  to,  and  died  in  the  Christian  faith.  Speak- 
ing of  oxen,  there  was  a  man  there  a  half  century  ago, 
Mr.  Franklin  Case,  who  excelled  as  a  raiser  and  trainer 
of  that  beautiful,  sleek,  red  breed  of  cattle,  the  Devon- 
shire. His  strings  of  anywhere  from  6  to  10  pairs,  rang- 
ing in  age  from  yearlings  up,  at  cattle  shows,  and  on 
other  occasions  on  the  street,  were  a  delight  to  the  eyes 
and  tastes  of  lovers  of  fine  stock.  Speaking  of  this  ex- 
cellent man,  reminds  me  of  a  pleasant  incident.  On  a 
•  certain  Sabbath,  in  church,  at  the  close  of  the  sermon, 
upon  the  minister's  invitation,  Mr.  Case  stepped  out  of 
one  pew,  and  his  wife-to-be  from  another,  into  the  center 
aisle,  where  after  a  brief  ceremony,  they  returned  to  his 
pew,  thenceforth  to  walk  life's  way  together  till  death 
should,  and  did,  sever  them.  Marriage  is  a  contract,  and, 
ordinarily,  contracts  entered  into  on  Sunday  are  not  bind- 
ing, but  no  one  has  been  heard  to  question  the  validity  of 
a  contract  of  this  sacred  nature,  when  entered  into  on  that 
day. 

A  part  of  my  mission  that  day  was  to  call  upon  those 
highly  respected,  aged  gentlemen,  so  much  noticed  at  the 
celebration,  Messrs.  Chester  Case  and  Everett  Case.  The 
former  is  95  years  old  this  9th  day  of  October,  and  the 
latter  was  94  on  the  I4th  day  of  last  March.  The  former 
retains  much  of  the  vivacity  and  enthusiasm  of  young 
manhood,  walking  about  town  quite  nimbly  for  so  old  a 
man,  and  the  latter,  though  infirm  for  getting  about, 
retains  his  mental  faculties  in  full  vigor.  His  words  are 
few,  but  witty,  weighty  and  wise.  His  countenance  indi- 


30  HARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 

cates  a  strong  intellect  and  benignant  character.  Inter- 
spersed with  farm  work,  his  occupation  for  many  winters 
was  teaching  school.  These  men  are  widowers,  were  old- 
time  whigs,  afterward  republicans,  and  voted  for  most 
if  not  all  of  the  presidential  candidates  of  those  parties, 
ending  with  Theodore  Roosevelt.  [Both  now  dead.] 

There  are  four  other  aged  people  in  Canton  whom 
it  was  my  privilege  to  call  on  on  the  Sunday  of  celebra- 
tion week  —  Mrs.  Lucia  Case,  widow  of  Franklin;  Mrs. 
Alfred  F.  Humphrey,  daughter  of  that  eminently  good 
man,  Dr.  Chauncey  G.  Griswold,  whose  salve  has  been 
such  a  boon  to  society;  Mr.  Levi  Case  and  Hiram  Bar- 
bour.  Mrs.  Case  retains  her  physical  and  mental  vigor 
and  marked  business  ability.  Acting  as  a  trustee  under 
the  will  of  her  brother,  Seymour  N.  Case,  well  known  in 
Hartford  fifty  years  ago,  she  has  drawn  numerous  checks, 
in  assisting  nephews,  nieces,  grand-nephews  and  grand- 
nieces  in  getting  a  liberal  education.  Mr.  Case  was  a 
successful  lawyer,  and  accumulated  a  large  estate.  Having 
no  family  of  his  own,  he  could  not  have  more  wisely  be- 
queathed it.  Mrs.  Case's  son,  Hon.  Benjamin  F.,  is  an 
invaluable  man  in  business  and  social  matters  in  Canton, 
and  her  four  daughters,  Lucia,  widow  of  Miles  Case,  of 
Braintree,  Mass.,  Marion,  widow  of  Mason  Case  of  Can- 
ton, Flora,  wife  of  Mr.  Rose,  of  Granville,  Mass.,  and 
Hattie  M.,  wife  of  Daniel  T.  Dyer,  of  Canton,  are  in 
like  manner  most  highly  respected  and  useful  members 
of  society.  The  latter  is  the  honored  regent  of  that  branch 
of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  known  as 
the  Phoebe  Humphrey  chapter,  and  is  most  active  and 
zealous  in  research  concerning  colonial  and  later  ancient 
history.  Having  had  a  hint  from  that  respected  organi- 
zation, that  such  action  on  my  part,  in  any  paper  of  a 
historical  nature  that  I  might  prepare,  would  be  welcome, 
I  modestly  and  respectfully  dedicate  this  article  to  that 
association.  I  fear,  however,  it  is  not  deserving  of  such 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  31 

a  high  honor.  Mrs.  Alfred  F.  Humphrey  is  nearly  as 
sprightly  as  when  I  first  knew,  her  sixty  years  ago.  She 
continues  to  wrell  fill  her  place  in  church  and  society  mat- 
ters, and  took  in  the  celebration  exercises  with  delight. 
She  is  the  last  of  her  father's  family.  Her  mother  was  a 
sister  of  the  Hon.  Ephraim  Mills.  Her  sons  are  well 
known,  highly  respected  business  men  in  this  county.  She 
makes  her  home  with  her  daughter  in  the  house  erected 
by  Volney  G.  Barbour.  [Lucia  Case  died  Jan.  2d,  1908.] 

Mr.  Levi  Case,  though  feeble,  is  still  able  to  perform 
a  little  light  farm  work.  He  makes  his  home  with  his  son, 
Asa  L.  Case,  in  a  very  ancient  house,  near  the  famous  Dr. 
Everest  house.  He  is  a  very  intelligent,  strong  minded 
man;  formerly  taught  school  several  terms,  practiced  sur- 
veying, and  is  recognized  as  a  safe  authority  on  the  ancient 
history  of  the  town.  He  began  his  political  career  when 
Henry  Clay  was  the  idol  of  the  Whig  party,  voting  for 
him  for  president  in  1844,  and  has  been  a  republican  since 
Whig  days.  He  has  voted  at  every  presidential,  state 
and  town  election  since  he  was  made  a  voter,  until  two 
years  since,  when  he  became  too  feeble  to  go  to  the  polls, 
though  he  did,  however,  vote  for  Mr.  Roosevelt  in 
November,  1904.  To  talk  with  this  man  on  historical 
matters  is  like  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel.  Mr.  Hiram 
Barbour  is  in  feeble  health,  and  nearly  blind  —  lives  with 
his  daughter  in  the  famous  -Jesse  Barbour  house.  The 
latter  was  a  shoemaker,  and  oft  did  I  visit  his  shop  at  noon 
time,  for  the  repair  of  my  boots,  and,  before  I  could 
understand  much  about  politics,  I  many  times  heard  him 
discourse  on  Jeffersonian  democracy,  as  he  at  the  same 
moment  was  hurrying  through  my  work  so  that  I  might 
not  be  late  at  school.  He  was  a  disciple  of  Thomas 
Paine,  but  it  took  an  able  logician  to  match  him  in  argu- 
ment on  theology  or  politics.  He  was,  withal,  a  very 
good  man. 

There  have  been  noteworthy  incidents  in  the  lives  of 


32  BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

some  of  the  early  settlers  in  Canton,  which  I  proceed  to 
relate.  General  Ezra  Adams  was  prominent  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  town,  and  represented  it  several  times  in 
the  legislature.  I  feel  honored  in  a  relationship,  resulting 
from  the  marriage  of  a  sister  of  my  father  to  a  son  of 
his.  His  descendants  are  quite  numerous,  and  highly 
respectable.  His  wife  survived  him  a  few  years.  Ac- 
cording to  a  story  I  heard  in  my  boyhood,  and  now  con- 
firmed to  me  by  one  of  the  oldest  people  in  Canton,  she 
possessed  some  of  the  heroism  of  Israel  Putnam.  She 
awoke  one  night,  hearing  some  one  in  her  cellar;  she 
arose,  prepared  herself  to  face  the  burglar,  and,  with 
candle  in  hand,  and,  seemingly,  her  life  in  her  hands,  she 
descended  alone  into  the  cellar,  and,  to  her  surprise,  found 
a  poor  neighbor  there,  helping  himself  to  meat  from  her 
barrel.  In  the  well-known  kindness  of  her  heart,  it  can- 
not be  doubted  she  permitted  the  poor  man  to  carry  home 
some  food,  but  with  the  sharp  injunction  thereafter  to 
take  the  honest  way  to  supply  his  wants,  by  applying  to 
her  when  needy. 

Mr.  Ephraim  Mills,  who  was  born  in  1782  and  died 
August  7,  1863,  was  of  an  age  to  assist  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  town,  in  1806,  and  did  materially  assist.  In 
connection  with  the  Canton  centennial  celebration,  a  query 
arose  in  my  mind  how  it  happened  that  the  town  came  to 
have  its  beautiful  name.  I  never  had  heard,  and,  so  far 
as  it  has  come  to  my  knowledge,  there  has  been  nothing 
said  about  it  in  connection  with  the  celebration.  I  began 
an*  investigation  and  was  informed  by  Mr.  Mills's  esti- 
mable daughter,  Mrs.  R.  O.  Humphrey,  whose  memory 
goes  back  into  the  forties,  that  she  had  often  heard  her 
father  say  that  he  suggested  the  name.  But,  why  Canton? 
It  came  from  Mr.  Mills's  interest  in  the  Swiss  people 
and  their  ardent  patriotism,  and  was  suggested  to  his 
mind  by  their  territorial  divisions  into  cantons.  The 
name  appealed  to  him,  partly  because  of  its  pleasant 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


33 


sound,  and  its  being  so  easy  to  speak  and  write.  Mr. 
Mills  did  not  have  the  educational  advantages  of  this  day, 
but,  by  his  very  studious  habits  he  came  to  be  a  man  of 
rare  intelligence.  He  had  a  great  fondness  for  the  natu- 
ral sciences,  and  his  knowledge  of  philosophy,  chemistry 
and  astronomy  was  extraordinary,  and  in  historical  mat- 
ters he  was  an  authority.  He  was  the  first  judge  of 
probate  of  the  district  of  Canton  after  the  town  became 
a  probate  district  in  1841.  His  daughter  holds  his  com- 
missions, signed  respectively  by  Governor  Chauncey  F. 
Cleveland,  Governor  Roger  S.  Baldwin  and  Governor 
Clark  Bissell.  He  three  times  represented  the  town  in 
the  legislature.  It  has  been  the  rule  in  Canton  to  send 
a  man  to  the  legislature  but  once,  so  that  the  honor  might 
pass  around,  and  some  have  died  waiting  for  their  turn 
to  arrive. 

Mr.  Rollin  D.  Lane,  a  Canton  boy,  early  orphaned 
by  the  death  of  his  father,  relates  to  me  a  pleasing  inci- 
dent in  the  life  of  another  of  those  early  Canton  men, 
Mr.  Elam  Case,  grandfather  of  Benjamin  F.  Mr.  Case's 
family  lost  a  little  household  article,  of  no  great  value, 
and  Rollin  happened  to  find  it,  and  he  promptly  returned 
it.  Mr.  Case  proceeded  to  reward  him,  and,  in  doing 
that,  to  leave  on  the  boy's  mind  an  impression  that  would 
probably  never  be  effaced.  He  said  to  the  lad,  handing 
out  25  cents:  "  Here  are  11^/2  cents  for  your  finding  the 
article,  and  12^2  cents  for  your  honesty  in  returning  it." 
In  those  days  one  of  the  pieces  of  silver  money  was  one 
stamped  12^2  cents,  and  commonly  called  ninepence.  Such 
a  fatherly  address  of  commendation  of  a  good  deed  is 
worthy  of  imitation  by  actual  parents.  This  incident 
suggests  to  my  mind  a  remark  I  once  heard  the  Rev. 
James  B.  Cleaveland,  a  man  of  rare  wisdom,  make  in  a 
sermon  on  the  training  of  children.  He  said  that  he  had 
found  it  -efficacious  in  family  government  never  afterward 
to  refer  to  any  act  of  a  child's  misdoing,  when  once  it  had 

3 


34  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

been  reproved,  and  then  watch  for  opportunities  promptly 
to  commend  the  child  for  good  deeds,  his  theory  being 
that  deserved  praise  incites  to  good  behavior  in  the  child. 
His  success  in  rearing  quite  a  large  family  of  children 
tends  to  prove  the  soundness  of  the  theory.  He  was 
happily  aided,  of  course,  by  his  wife,  whose  beautiful 
poem,  "  No  Sects  in  Heaven,"  attracted  such  wide  notice 
and  admiration.  The  probate  judge  in  New  Haven,  and 
another  .son,  a  young  lawyer  of  great  promise  in  New 
Haven,  who  died  a  few  years  ago,  were  children  of  that 
family.  I  know  it  will  be  said,  it's  blood  that  tells,  but, 
all  the  same,  we  know  that  training  has  largely  contributed 
to  the  production  of  many  of  the  most  respected  and  suc- 
cessful of  men. 

Mr.  Zenas  Dyer,  grandfather  of  Daniel  T.  Dyer,  was 
another  man  who  took  part  in  Canton's  setting-off  pro- 
ceedings. In  1812  he  built  the  house  in  which  the  grand- 
son lives,  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  old  Albany 
turnpike,  near  Farmington  river,  on  an  elevation  com- 
manding a  fine  view  of  varying  scenery.  Mr.  Dyer  .used 
the  house  for  a  time  as  a  tavern,  sharing  with  nearby 
Hosford's  tavern  the  entertainment  of  the  extensive  trav- 
eling public.  I  well  remember  him  and  his  son  Daniel, 
who  many  years  owned  and  occupied  that  house;  both 
highly  respected  men.  Daniel  T.,  the  only  child  of  Dan- 
iel, succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  that  house,  and  resides 
there.  He  is  the  owner  of  some  500  acres  of  land,  and 
is  an  honored  member  of  the  democratic  party,  to  which 
party,  if  I  mistake  not,  Zenas  and  Daniel  belonged.  The 
present  Mr.  Dyer  and  his  estimable  wife,  to  whom  I  have 
already  referred,  are  royal  entertainers.  Numerically, 
and  in  wins»me  manners,  their  children  would  delight  the 
heart  of  President  Roosevelt,  and  they  help  to  make  up 
a  very  happy  family.  Mr.  Dyer's  exhibition  at  the  cen- 
tennial of  his  grandfather's  old  tin  lantern,  which  was  a 
guide  to  travelers  seeking  a  good  inn  to  tarry  at,  attracted 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


35 


much  attention.  I  wish  there  were  space  in  my  already 
over-full  paper  to  speak  of  the  other  antique  articles  ex- 
hibited. Permit  me,  nowcvcr,  to  speak  of  "  Uncle  Sim's  " 
post-office,  a  little  desk.  He  was  long  the  mail  carrier  and 
postmaster  at  the  Center,  and  the  contents  of  that  recep- 
tacle were  often,  particularly  during  the  Civil  War, 
anxiously  awaited  by  the  people  in  that  district.  That 
good  man,  Simeon  Mills,  like  his  brother,  Ephraim,  was 
universally  respected,  none  more  so.  His  compensation 
was  but  a  pittance,  his  reward  being  mainly  the  conscious- 
ness of  a  loving  service  rendered  the  people. 

The  last  of  the  aged  Canton  men  of  whom  I  would 
speak  is  Peter  Ackert,  half  brother  of  Edward  Ackert. 
He  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  85  years,  and  now  resides 
in  Southington.  That  honest-hearted  man  believed  in, 
and  practiced  rigorous  economy  and  plain,  simple  habits, 
devoid  of  every  manner  of  ostentation.  While  resident  in 
Canton  he  always  inveighed  against  the  extravagance  of 
the  times,  and  sighed  for  life  on  the  frontier,  where  one 
would  not  have  "  all  this  pride  to  support."  Imagine  the 
amused  amazement  of  his  old  acquaintances  when  he 
appeared  at  the  celebration,  riding  in  an  automobile.  One 
knowing  his  former  antipathy  to  show  of  any  kind  would 
not  have  suspected  that  he  would  even  accept  the  treat  of 
a  ride  in  such  a  vehicle.  He  was  a  much  respected  man. 

Canton  has  not  always  had  peace  in  its  entire  borders. 
Some  sixty  years  ago  action  was  taken  for  building  a  new 
schoolhouse  in  the  Center  district,  and  a  proposition  was 
made  for  a  slight  change  in  location.  The  rankest  bitter- 
ness was  engendered  over  the  matter,  resulting,  after  a 
sharp  strife,  in  a  division  of  the  district  into  the  North 
Center  and  South  Center.  There  was  sufficient  area  for 
two  districts,  perhaps,  but  the  number  of  children  and 
families  did  not  seem  to  call  for  it.  Nothing,  save  anti- 
slavery  agitation  in  ante-bellum  days,  ever  produced  so 
much  alienation  of  feeling  among  the  good  people  of  that 


36  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

part  of  the  town,  extending  in  its  baneful  effect  to  mem- 
bers of  the  same  church,  and  to  near  relatives.  As  a 
youth  I  viewed  the  battle  from  the  north  side  of  the 
dividing  line.  What  intensified  the  feeling  in  that  section 
was  the  fact  that  a  very  prominent  church  member  resid- 
ing there,  sided  with  the  southerners  in  bringing  about 
the  division.  Of  course  he  acted  for  what  he  deemed  the 
best  interests  of  all  concerned.  As  the  affair  is  looked 
back  upon,  the  feeling  gotten  up  between  rational  people 
seems  unaccountable  and  almost  ridiculous.  The  moral 
of  the  affair  for  country  folk  is,  if  you  can  possibly  avoid 
it,  don't  propose  to  change  the  location  of  your  school- 
house,  or  church. 

As  might  be  imagined,  my  visit  to  my  native  town  was 
attended  with  some  saddening  thoughts.  First  was  the 
sight  of  that  schoolhouse  at  North  Canton,  where  fifty- 
four  years  ago,  I  had  passed  a  pleasant  term  of  school, 
as  teacher  of  a  delightful  company  of  grown-up  boys  and 
girls,  my  affection  for  whom  was  akin  to  that  of  a  parent. 
That  house,  so  many  years  ago  occupied  for  school  pur- 
poses, is  now  abandoned,  windowless>  and  going  to  decay. 
I  wish  it  might  be  restored  and  put  to  some  educational 
or  social  use.  I  would  be  glad  to  join  with  some  of  my 
good  friends  in  North  Canton  and  elsewhere,  who,  like 
myself,  spent  happy  school  days  there,  in  the  expense  of 
such  a  restoration.  The  probably  equally  aged  "  con- 
ference house  "  at  the  center  presents  a  pleasing  contrast. 
The  latter,  in  external  appearance,  is  little  changed,  be- 
yond the  substitution  of  large  windows,  addition  of  a 
basement  and  a  coat  of  paint.  That  house  is  dear  to  me. 
There  I  attended  upper  grade  schools,  there  I  cast  my 
first  vote,  and  there  spent  two  happy  winters,  honored  a's 
the  teacher  of  a  quarter  of  a  hundred  and  more  young 
ladies  and  gentlemen  as  scholars.  Mr.  Sears,  in  his  his- 
torical address  at  the  celebration,  kindly  spoke  of  that 
school  as  having  more  than  a  local  reputation.  The 


HARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 


37 


excellence  of  the  school  was  due  to  the  splendid  pupils 
it  contained.  Among  its  surviving  members  are  Caroline 
Mills  Humphrey,  Louisa  Merrill  Hallock,  George  Jarvis 
Case,  Martha  Barbour  Whiting,  Eleanor  Case  Carswell, 
Anson  W.  Bristol,  Lucia  Case,  Edward  Ackert,  Archibald 
Mills,  Niles  Manchester,  Wolcott  Pike,  Charles  Taylor, 
a  joyful  reunion  of  most  of  whom  occurred  on  the  cen- 
tennial occasion  at  the  home  of  the  first  named,  in  Col- 
linsville.  [Ackert  died  September  24,  1907;  Manches- 
ter, February  18,  1908.] 

The  next  mournful  reflections  on  the  day  of  my 
journey  were  at  the  ancient  cemetery  at  North  Canton, 
where  I  paused  to  visit  the  grave  of  one  of  my  pupils, 
Trumbull  Case,  whose  funeral  I  was  called  to  attend 
within  one  month  of  the  close  of  the  school,  buried  with 
whom  was  his  father,  Robert  Case,  who  died  two  days 
earlier.  Trumbull  was  just  my  own  age,  21;  a  manlier, 
more  earnest  student  I  have  not  known.  About  one-half 
of  the  members  of  that 'school  are  believed  to  be  still 
living,  among  whom  are  Wilbert  J.  Case  and  wife,  Lucelia 
Wilcox,  residing  in  Boston. 

The  last  saddening  spectacle  of  that  journey  was  the 
sight  of  the  place  of  my  birth,  calling  up,  as  it  did,  memo- 
ries of  the  eight  other  children  who  were  reared  there. 
All  gone  to  the  other  side,  and  the  premises  owned  by 
strangers ! 

S.  B. 
Hartford,  October  9,   1906. 


NOTE. 

The  following  beautiful  letter  from  Mrs.  Kinney, 
State  Regent,  Connecticut  D.  A.  R.,  was  a  pleasant  sur- 
prise to  me,  for,  at  the  time  it  was  written,  I  had  not  had 
the  honor  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  her.  Upon 
my  application  to  her,  she  has  kindly  consented  to  allow 


<jS  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

me  to  copy  the  letter  and  also  to  print  her  photograph 
in  this  little  book,  for  which  courtesy  I  feel  greatly  obliged 
to  her. 

S.  B. 

"  Hon.  Sylvester  Barbour,  Hartford : 

"Dear  Sir:  I  have  read  with  much  interest  your 
recent  communication  to  THE  HARTFORD  TIMES,  and  I 
wish  to  give  myself  the  pleasure  of  saying  to  you,  that  I 
greatly  enjoyed  the  reminiscences,  and  the  historic  char- 
acter of  the  paper  as  a  whole.  Your  pleasant  reference 
to  the  D.  A.  R.,  and  to  my  friend,  Mrs.  Dyer,  are  appre- 
ciated, and  I  thank  you  for  them.  It  is  such  articles  as 
yours  that  make  files  of  good  newspapers  of  great  value. 
A  hundred  or  two  years  hence,  someone  will  pick  up  THE 
HARTFORD  TIMES  and  read  that  article  of  yours;  then  he 
(or  she)  will  say,  '  Well,  I'm  mighty  glad  to  see  that;  it 
tells  me  just  what  I  wanted  to  know  about  Canton,  about 
D.  A.  R.,  and  ever  so  many  other  things.' 

"  Next  week  Thursday,  the  Connecticut  D.  A.  R.  are 
to  hold  a  meeting  in  Center  Church.  The  gallery  will 
be  open  to  friends  of  the  organization.  I  hope  we  may 
see  you  there. 

"  Believe  me,  very  truly  yours, 

"  SARA  T.  KINNEY. 
"  46  Park  St., 
"  New  Haven, 

"  24  Oct.,  1906." 


[  HARTFORD  TIMES,  Aug.  15,  1907.] 


EIGHTY  YEARS  OLD. 


JUDGE  BARBOUR'S  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  HON.  ROLLIN 
ORESTES  HUMPHREY  OF  CANTON. 


To  the  Editor  of  THE  TIMES: 

It  is  pleasant,  and  fitting,  too,  to  take  note  of  the 
birthdays  of  those  whom  we  respect,  and  especially  so, 
when  such  persons  are  our  seniors,  about  whom  we  have 
always  known.  I  can't  remember  the  time  when  I  did 
not  know  of  my  fellow-townsman,  the  Hon.  Rollin  Orestes 
Humphrey,  of  Canton,  and  I  think  that  most  persons 
living,  -who  were  born  or  have  resided  in  or  near  that 
town,  can  say  the  same  as  to  their  recollection.  He  has 
always  resided  in  that  town,  and  was  born  there,  August 
1 6,  1827,  and,  therefore,  in  common  understanding,  he 
will  be  80  years  old  to-morrow,  the  i6th,  though,  in  law, 
he  has  attained  that  age  today,  the  I5th.  This  proposi- 
tion will  surprise  many,  yet  it  is  true.  A  familiar  appli- 
cation of  that  principle  in  estimating  ages  occasionally 
occurs  in  case  of  a  man  admitted  as  a  voter  the  day  before 
he  nominally  becomes  21.  As  on  that  immediately  pre- 
ceding day  such  man  completes  his  minority,  and,  as,  for 
most  purposes,  the  law  knows  no  fraction  of  a  day,  at 
the  beginning  of  that  preceding  day,  eo  instanti,  that  in- 
stant, the  minority  of  the  man  is  considered  completed. 
Accordingly,  at  the  first  tick  of  the  clock  after  midnight 
this  morning  Mr.  Humphrey  became  80. 

As  he  was  considered  so  much  a  part  of  Canton  on 
the  centennial  occasion,  his  picture  appeared  prominently 
in  print.  As  he  is  so  generally  known  in  all  this  region, 
in  and  outside  of  Canton,  I  think  many  of  your  readers 


40  HARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 

will  be  interested  in  learning  that  he  has  rounded  out  four 
score  years,  and  is  still  in  a  good  state  of  health.  Though 
much  retired,  his  long  familiarity  with  legal  matters 
makes  him  very  useful  in  such  legal  business  as  he  can 
perform  as  well  as  a  lawyer,  and  his  services  are  much 
in  demand.  His  official  honors  in  that  town  have  been 
many,  including  representing  it  in  the  general  assembly, 
and  frequent  jury  service  in  all  the  courts.  Presumably 
he  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  General  Zachary 
Taylor,  in  1848,  as  he  then  became  of  an  age  to  vote, 
and  was  an  ardent  whig,  though  latterly  a  democrat. 

By  his  marriage  to  Henrietta,  the  only  daughter  of 
my  uncle  Harvey  Barbour,  he  became  my  first  cousin,  and 
by  his  subsequent  marriage  to  Caroline  Emma,  only 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  Ephraim  Mills,  of  Canton,  he  be- 
came my  third  cousin.  Genealogists  figure  out  a  blood 
relationship  between  us,  also.  Among  my  precious  memo- 
ries of  school-teaching  days,  is  that  of  having  had  the 
last  named  lady  as  an  adult  pupil  in  a  select  school  in  the 
u  Conference  house,"  at  Canton  center,  more  than  50 
years  ago,  and  among  my  mementos  of  that  school  are 
the  scholars'  essays,  copied  by  them  for  my  preservation. 
Two  of  this  pupil's  come  to  my  mind,  the  subject  of  one, 
expressed  in  Latin,  in  which  language  she  was  proficient, 
'  Vera  Amicitia  Sempiterna  Est,"  true  friendship  is  ever- 
lasting; the  theme  of  the  other,  a  beautiful  poem  written 
near  the  close  of  the  term,  being  the  school,  of  which  she 
was  a  member.  This  subject  gave  her  an  opportunity 
to  refer  to  her  teacher,  and  to  those  twenty-six  excep- 
tionally exemplary,  diligent  scholars,  parting  from  whom 
and  among  whom,  at  the  close  of  school  was  painful  to 
teacher  and  scholars. 

Barring  lameness,  Mrs.  Humphrey  is  quite  well,  but 
that  infirmity  very  seriously  interferes  with  social  enjoy- 
ments, of  which  she  is  so  capable.  People  who  know  her 
gifts  and  culture  can  the  more  deeply  sympathize  with 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  4l 

her  in  her  enforced  retirement.  Her  very  dear  niece, 
Mrs.  W.  E.  Simonds,  and  her  first  cousin,  Mrs.  Lydia 
Griswold  Humphrey  are  still  living,  with  whom  she  has 
delightful  intercourse. 

Of  the  six  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Humphrey,  two 
survive,  a  daughter,  Alice,  whose  husband  is  in  the  patent 
office  at  Washington  [died  May  10,  1908],  and  Rollin 
O.,  Jr.,  in  the  employ  of  the  Collins  Co.  They  experi- 
enced sore  affliction  in  the  death  of  two  young  children, 
and  a  daughter,  Emma,  so  much  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
her,  as  former  wife  of  M.  Stanley  Neal,  a  much  honored 
and  very  highly  respected  business  man  in  Collinsville, 
and  a  daughter,  Caroline  Amelia,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  just  as  she  was  budding  into  happy  woman- 
hood, and  of  whom  very  flattering  predictions  of  literary 
attainment  had  been  made  by  her  teachers.  They  have 
two  grandchildren,  Morris  Humphrey  Neal,  aged  20,  and 
Kenneth  Stanley  Neal,  in  his  ryth  year,  who,  in  view  of 
the  over  full  professions,  are  wisely  fitting  themselves  for 
business  careers,  the  former,  already  a  student  in  the  Wor- 
cester Polytechnic  institute,  and  the  latter,  just  graduated 
from  the  Collinsville  high  school,  is  to  enter  that  college 
the  coming  autumn. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  occurrence  of  this  birthday 
anniversary  may  be  known  among  the  neighbors  and 
friends  of  this  honored  couple,  so  that  there  may  be 
opportunity,  by  calls,  letters  and  otherwise,  to  testify  the 
respect  which  is  cherished  for  the  pair.  None  of  the 
persons  whose  names  I  have  mentioned  is  aware  of  the 
preparation  of  this  paper. 

S.  B. 
Hartford,  August  15,   1907. 


[HARTFORD  TIMES,  Dec.  6,  1906.] 


REMINISCENCES  OF  CANTON, 

JUDGE  SYLVESTER  BARBOUR. 


DEDICATED  TO  PHCEBE  HUMPHREY  CHAPTER,  DAUGH- 
TERS OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


LARGE    FAMILIES    THE    RULE. 


Rev.  Jairus  Burt  of  the  Old  Center  Church — Something 

About  the  Old  Physicians  and  Lawyers 

of  the  Town. 


THE   EAST  WINDSOR   SEMINARY. 


To  the  Editor  of  THE  TIMES: 

When,  with  some  trepidation,  a  few  weeks  ago  I 
handed  you  a  fifty-year  reminiscent  article,  relating 
mainly  to  Hartford,  I  had  no  thought  of  venturing  to 
offer  anything  further  in  that  line;  but,  after  your  very 
kind  (and  I  would  say,  too  laudatory)  comments  on  the 
article,'  and  your  expression  (speaking,  of  course,  in  a 
general  way)  that  "  it  is  a  pity  not  to  have  more  of  these 
reminiscences,"  I  felt  encouraged  to  present  a  second 
article,  relating  chiefly  to  the  affairs  of  my  native  town, 
Canton.  As  some  of  my  acquaintances,  whose  judgment 
I  respect,  and  whose  candor  I  would  not  question,  have 
expressed  themselves  as  interested  in  contributions  of 
such  a  sort,  may  I  tender  this  further  one,  which,  how- 
ever, you  may  commit  to  the  waste  basket,  if,  in  your 
judgment,  it  isn't  calculated  to  be  of  such  general  interest 
as  warrants  your  giving  space  for  it.  If,  however,  you 
print  it,  I  wish  to  dedicate  it,  as  I  did  the, second  article, 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


43 


to  Phoebe  Humphrey  chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution.  The  dedication  in  that  case,  as  in 
this,  is  pursuant  to  an  invitation  of  the  chapter,  signified 
to  me  by  its  honored  regent,  Mrs.  Dyer.  If  the  history 
these  articles  furnish  is  thought  to  have  any  value  what- 
ever for  the  archives  of  that  association,  I  am  pleased 
to  comply  with  the  invitation,  for  the  regent  and  some 
others  of  the  order  are  natives  and  residents  of  Canton, 
and  I  greatly  respect  all  the  members. 

In  passing,  I  would  like  to  express  the  great  pleasure 
I  received,  as,  from  the  gallery  of  the  Center  church  of 
Hartford,  I  looked  down  upon  the  grand  assembly  of 
the  D.  A.  R.  at  their  recent  convention,  and  from  the 
addresses  delivered,  all  of  which  were  good.  I  was  espe- 
cially interested  in  that  of  Mrs.  Cone,  as  I  had  well  known 
her  late  husband,  J.  H.  Cone,  and  her  father,  John  G. 
Mix,  and  because  she  is  a  Hartford  woman.  Her  admi- 
rable address  on  Lafayette's  visit  to  Hartford,  was  recited 
from  memory  in  a  fluent,  modest  and  very  impressive 
manner.  And  I  hope  it  will  not  be  thought  by  any  of 
that  vast  company  of  women  invidious,  if  I  single  out 
one  other  lady  for  honorable  mention,  namely,  Mrs. 
Kinney,  state  regent.  In  physiognomy  and  unassuming, 
winning  bearing  upon  the  platform,  she  pleasantly  re- 
minded me  of  Secretary  Taft.  I  hope,  in  making  this 
comparison,  I  may  offend  neither  good  taste  nor  the  feel- 
ings of  that  excellent  woman,  whom  I  so  much  respect 
and  admire.  As  I  thus  looked  down  upon  that  scene  in 
the  church,  where  more  than  a  half  century  ago  I  some- 
times heard  the  sermons  of  the  then  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Hawes,  whose  august  presence  was  enough  to  inspire  awe, 
I  thought  what  a  terrific  frown  would  have  been  upon 
his  face  if,  in  his  day  of  occupying  that  pulpit,  such  a 
spectacle  had  been  presented  to  his  view.  I  fancied  he 
would  have  said,  "  Sisters !  this  will  never  do !  Don't 
you  remember  what  St.  Paul  said,  '  It  is  a  shame  for 


44 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


women  to  speak  in  the  church'?  "  Well,  I  don't  hold  a 
brief,  to  defend  Paul,  nor  am  I  out  to  condemn  him.  If 
he  meant  that  command  for  universal  application,  and 
for  all  time,  I  should  venture  to  say  that,  to  that  extent, 
I  doubt  if  he  was  inspired.  My  admiration  of  that  pow- 
erful logician  is  such,  however,  that  I  would  rather  believe 
he  meant  the  precept  for  sole  application  to  the  people 
of  Corinth,  whom  he  was  addressing,  where  the  circum- 
stances made  such  an  injunction  proper. 

Perhaps  the  circumstances  were,  an  adverse,  hostile, 
public  sentiment,  disregard  of  which  might  lead  to  riot. 
If  Paul  looks  down  upon  us,  I  doubt  if  he  was  shocked 
on  seeing  his  sisters  speaking  in  most  of  the  pulpits  in 
Hartford,  on  the  Sunday  following  that  convention,  since 
the  audiences  seemed  pleased  with,  and  edified  by  the 
addresses,  the  brethren  not  excepted. 

REMINISCENCES. 

And,  now,  to  resume  my  reminiscences,  which  will 
center  very  much  about  Canton.  First,  I  would  speak 
about  the  so-called  learned*  professions,  as  represented 
there;  and,  of  course,  the  clergymen  should  have  the  pre- 
cedence in  mention.  The  present  meeting-house  at  the 
center,  built  by  the  Congregationalists  in  1814,  is  in  place 
of  one  upon  the  same  site,  built  in  1763.  A  mournful 
calamity  in  connection  with  preparations  for  building  the 
present  edifice  was  the  death  of  a  man  very  prominently 
engaged  in  these  preparations,  Mr.  Orange  Case,  killed 
by  the  falling  of  a  tree,  designed  for  the  frame  of  the 
building.  Rev.  Jeremiah  Hallock,  born  in  1758,  was 
pastor  .of  the  church  at  the  time  mentioned.  He  was  a 
very  devout  man,  very  deliberate  and  solemnly  impressive 
in  his  manner  of  speaking.  In  those  days  ministers,  as  a 
means  of  usefulness,  and  of  eking  out  a  subsistence,  took 
young  men,  to  fit  them  for  college.  Mr.  Hallock  did 
this.  He  also  carried  on  farming  to  some  extent,  thereby 


CANTON  CENTER  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH,   AND  "CONFERENCE  HOUSE' 

OPPOSITE. 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


45 


utilizing  the  assistance  of  the  students,  who  could  thus 
pay  their  way,  in  part.  Mr.  Hallock  died  June  23,  1826, 
having  been  pastor  of  the  church  more  than  40  years.  He 
left  a  son,  William  Homan,  a  man  of  massive  frame  and 
kingly  dignity.  Everybody  called  him  "  Squire  "  Hal- 
lock,  and  he  was  very  prominent  in  Canton  affairs,  was 
an  ardent  abolitionist,  represented  the  town  in  the  lower 
house  of  the  legislature  in  1841,  held  the  office  of  town 
clerk  when  in  the  forties  his  house  and  most  of  the  records 
of  the  town  were  burned  in  the  night  time.  [Should  be 
1838,  as  stated  in  later  article  on  page  64,  "  Pepper 
on  Stove."]  He  left  four  children,  Jeremiah,  Will'am, 
Sarah  and  Mary,  the  first  named  only,  a  very  aged  man, 
is  living,  residing  in  New  Hartford.  There  are  no  male 
grandchildren,  and  this  branch  of  Hallocks  will  soon  be- 
come extinct.  Mary  left  a  daughter,  the  only  grandchild. 

REV.  JAIRUS  BURT. 

Mr.  Jairus  Burt,  an  uncle  of  Federal  B.  Bridgman  of 
Hartford  [who  died  February  10,  1908],  succeeded  Mr. 
Hallock  in  1826,  and  continued  pastor  till  his  death  in 
1857.  He  was  an  able  preacher,  influential  in  the  councils 
of  his  denomination,  an  ardent  abolitionist,  fearlessly 
denouncing  the  evil  of  slavery.  Actuated  by  patriotic 
motives,  a  large  portion  of  his  congregation  did  not  sym- 
pathize with  him  in  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question, 
and  the  trials  he  passed  through  in  consequence  were  very 
great.  Nothing  but  a  sense  of  duty  could  have  kept  him 
from  resigning  his  charge. 

In  those  days  ministers'  salaries  in  the  country  were 
very  small,  but  they  were  considerably  supplemented  by 
occasional  donations  of  provisions,  and  by  an  annual  dona- 
tion party  in  the  winter,  when  the  farmers  would  appear 
with  their  loads  of  wood,  affording  fuel  for  the  year,  and 
with  divers  articles  for  family  use,  and  the  good  women 
would  appear,  to  cultivate  acquaintance  with  each  other 


46  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

and  the  pastor  and  his  wife.  The  occasions  were  so  happy 
that^they  were  looked  forward  to  with  pleasure.  Now  and 
then,  of  course,  the  minister  would  receive  a  wedding  fee, 
to  hand  over  to  the  wife  for  her  pin  money  (as  I  have 
heard  was  the  custom),  though,  considering  the  ability 
of  the  newly-wedded  pair,  the  fees  were,  presumably, 
sometimes  small.  •  I  knew  one  instance  in  which  it  was  25 
cents.  I  doubt  not  the  pay  was  sometimes  an  article  other 
than  money,  and  just  as  useful.  Mr.  Burt  passed  through 
a  very  sore  family  trial  a  few  years  before  his  death.  His 
only  child,  Jairus,  died  in  his  early  manhood.  It  was 
known  in  the  parish  that  Jairus  was  seriously  sick  in  Suf- 
field,  where  he  had  been  clerking,  and  that  his  father  was 
at  his  bedside  during  the  week.  Mr.  Burt  returned  home 
late  Saturday  evening;  and  when,  on  Sunday  morning,  he 
appeared  in  his  pulpit,  a  load  was  taken  from  the  hearts 
of  his  congregation,  as  they  inferred  the  young  man  was 
better.  Mr.  Burt  had  not  been  able  to  procure  a  supply 
for  his  pulpit,  and  he  conducted  the  services  in  the  usual 
manner,  ajid  at  the  close  he  announced  that  Jairus  was 
dead.  This  remarkable  instance  of  calm  self-control 
under  afflictive  circumstances  was  equaled  about  the  same 
time,  in  the  case  of  another  very  good  man  in  that  parish. 
When  the  congregation  met  at  the  church  on  a  Sunday 
morning  it  was  learned  that  Norman  Case's  daughter, 
Fanny,  the  first  wife  of  John  Brown,  had  died  during 
the  night  previous,  and  that  Mr.  Case,  who  sometimes 
made  coffins,  was  at  his  shop  making  one  for  the  daughter. 
Mr.  Burt  preached  a  powerful  sermon  on  the  last  Sunday 
of  his  life,  during  that  terribly  cold  month  of  January, 
1857.  The  text  was:  "Who  can  stand  before  His  cold?" 
He  went  to  his  home  from  that  service,  performed  a  mar- 
riage ceremony  at  his  house  in  the  evening,  was  soon  after 
taken  with  a  chill,  severe  coughing,  hemorrhage,  became 
unconscious  on  Tuesday,  and  died  on  Thursday,  January 
J5>  l%57-  Quite  naturally  some  would  think  he  had  a 


REV.  JA1RUS  BURT 
Pastor  Canton  Center  Cong.  Church,  1826—1857 


REV.   CHARLES  B.  McLEAN 
Pastor  Collinsville  Cong.  Church,  1843—1866. 


-.» 


DR.   BEN   ADAM   KASSON 
Born  Dec.  6,  1807,  Died  Dec.  21,  18 


ROLLIN  DWIGHT  LANE 
Born  Apr.  8,  1834. 


HARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 


47 


premonition  of  his  early  death  when  he  prepared  and 
preached  that  sermon.  However  that  may  have  been,  it 
is  to  be  said  his  aptitude  for  selecting  suitable  texts  and 
subjects  for  his  sermons  was  remarkable.  Among  the 
instances  of  this  character,  I  remember,  was  his  permon 
at  the  funeral  of  Daniel  Merrill  on  the  text:  "What! 
Shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  we 
not  receive  evil?"  In  the  affliction  of  the  family,  the 
preacher  would  have  them  remember  their  great  bless- 
ings. Among  its  blessings  to  be  remembered  was  the  pos- 
session of  fine,  promising  children  —  four  daughters  and 
a  son.  This  son,  Selah,  later  became  an  able  clergyman, 
is  now,  and  for  years  has  been,  stationed  at  Jerusalem 
under  a  government  appointment,  made  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  Senator  Hawley,  whose  father  had  married 
Mr.  Merrill's  widow..  [Rev.  Selah  Merrill,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  has  been  since  transferred  from  the  consulate  at 
Jerusalem  to  that  at  Georgetown,  Guiana.  While  at 
Jerusalem  he  did  much  in  archaeological  research,  and 
discovered  the  Second  Wall,  outside  of  which  Christ  is 
said  to  have  been  crucified?] 

A  fall  of  snow  of  great  depth  just  before  Mr.  Hurt's 
funeral  made  it  almost  impossible  to  reach  the  church  and 
graveyard,  a  few  rods  distant  from  the  house.  Mr.  Hurt's 
very  dear  friend,  the  Rev.  Charles  B.  McLean  (Governor 
McLean's  uncle),  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church 
in  Collinsville,  preached  the  sermon.  He  was  a  preacher 
of  great  ability,  and  one  of  the  most  benignant  in  spirit  I 
ever  knew.  I  many  times  heard  his  father,  the  Rev. 
Allen  McLean,  of  Simsbury,  preach  after  he  became 
blind,  in  exchange  with  Mr.  Burt.  In  giving  out  the 
hymns  they  were  read  from  the  tablets  of  his  memory, 
and  in  like  manner  were  recited  passages  of  Scripture. 
His  discourses  were  delivered  in  a  very  impressive  man- 
ner. I  vividly  recall  one,  on  the  text:  "Within  three 
days  ye  shall  pass  over  Jordan,"  a  sermon  on  preparation 


48  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

for  death.  The  sudden  death  the  next  day  of  my  father's 
distant  relative  and  near  neighbor,  an  aged  man,  Mr. 
Levi  Barber,  familiarly  known  as  "  Uncle  "  Levi,  brought 
to  the  minds  of  some  who  had  heard  that  sermon,  Mr. 
Barber's  apparently  very  thoughtful  attention  to  the  ser- 
mon, as  though  it  was  a  personal  address  to  him.  Mr. 
Barber  was  not  a  church  member,  but  was  a  very  constant 
attendant  at  church,  a  very  exemplary  man  in  his  life,  and 
was,  I  doubt  not,  "  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  was  no 
guile."  [Mr.  Barber's  death  is  further  referred  to  on 
next  page,  under  the  head  of  "  Physicians.]  There  have 
been  several  successors  to  Mr.  Burt  in  the  Center  church, 
the  present  one  being  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Moulton.  He  and 
his  cultured,  gifted  wife  are  doing  a  good  work  there. 
If  sudden  emergency  requires  it  she  can  go  into  her  hus- 
band's pulpit  and  conduct  the  service,  a  happy  condition 
of  things  for  pastor  and  people,  in  this  day,  when  the 
fear  of  St.  Paul's  adverse  declaration  is  less  prevalent 
than  formerly. 

Canton  has  been  extraordinarily  honored  in  the  cler- 
gymen with  whom  properly  it  may  be  credited.  The  Rev. 
Heman  Humphrey,  D.D.,  long-time  president  of  Amherst 
college,  was  born  there,  near  where  the  venerable  octo- 
genarian, Levi  Case,  resides.  [Levi  Case  was  born  Janu- 
ary 4,  1822,  and  died  October  21,  1907.]  Including  Dr. 
Humphrey's  three  sons,  his  son-in-law,  his  brother  (the 
Rev.  Luther  Humphrey),  and  Humphrey  descendants  in 
the  Barber  and  Barbour  lines,  there  have  been  fourteen 
most  respectable  clergymen  in  the  family. 

THE  OLD  CHURCH. 

The  pleasure  of  an  occasional  visit  to  my  home  church 
has  mingled  with  it  much  sadness.  The  pews  are  there 
as  they  were  three  score  years  ago,  but  only  a  very  few 
of  the  former  occupants  are  there,  and  church  attendance 
is  comparatively  small.  Then,  those  pews,  and  the  large 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


49 


galleries  on  the  three  sides  of  the  church  (which  have 
since  been  removed),  were  well  filled.  The  large  choir 
in  the  gallery  facing  the  pulpit  was  led  instrumentally 
by  William  E.  Brown,  on  the  bass  viol,  Warren  C.  Hum- 
phrey on  the  violin,  and  General  Jarvis  Case  on  the  flute, 
an  accompaniment  to  church  singing  I  never  have  seen 
anywhere  else.  The  congregation,  apparently  not  to  seem 
impolite  in  standing  with  their  backs  to  the  choir,  stood 
during  singing,  facing  it,  that  is,  all  but  a  very  few  men, 
who  stood  in  prayer  time.  In  that  day  Canton  had  many 
staunch  laymen,  active  in  helping  to  maintain  church 
services,  Sunday  and  week  days.  They  loom  up  in  my 
memory  very  pleasantly.  Among  them  were  those  long- 
time deacons,  Lancel  Foot  and  Uriah  Hosford,  Dr. 
Chauncey  G.  Griswold,  Elijah  Whiting,  Warren  C.  Hum- 
phrey and  Averitt  Wilcox.  The  last  named,  a  very  able 
man  in  speech,  was  at  the  head  of  a  line  of  five  genera- 
tions whom  I  have  known,  Imri  Wilcox  of  Hartford 
being  midway  in  the  line. 

PHYSICIANS. 

Next  I  will  speak  of  the  physicians.  Sixty  years  ago 
there  were  only  three  local  ones  in  Canton,  Dr.  O.  B. 
Freeman,  Dr.  R.  H.  Tiffany  (sometime  subsequently  a 
resident  practitioner  in  Hartford),  and  Dr.  Ben  Adam 
Kasson.  The  first  named  was  a  man  of  kindly  manner, 
rare  gentility,  much  esteemed  by  many  as  a  physician,  and 
very  deliberate  in  action.  I  had  a  memorable  illustration 
of  the  last  named  characteristic  in  my  very  early  boyhood. 
On  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  "  Uncle  "  Levi,  his  son- 
in-law,  Horace  Gridley,  came  hurriedly  to  my  father's 
place,  and  asked  that  I  be  at  once  dispatched  to  Collins- 
ville  for  a  doctor,  as  Mr.  Barber  had  been  "  taken  with 
a  fit."  I  immediately  mounted  a  horse,  not  stopping  for 
saddle  or  blanket,  and  rushed  for  Collinsville,  a  distance 
of  six  miles.  I  feel  sure  King  Jehu  himself  never  trav- 


$0  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

eled  more  swiftly,  though  he  is  said  on  one  occasion  to 
have  ridden  "  furiously."  People  all  along  the  way  gazed 
in  wonderment  and  fear.  The  first  doctor  I  found  was 
Dr.  Freeman,  and  he  would  go.  As  I  was  the  worse  for 
my  furious  ride,  I  asked  him  if  I  could  ride  back  with 
him  and  lead  my  horse  behind.  "  O,  yes,  my  little  man, 
come  right  in,  and  wait  for  me."  And  oh !  what  a  wait ! 
I  thought  the  stricken  man  would  die  before  we  could 
reach  him.  I  don't  know  that  the  doctor  waited  to  shave 
himself,  but  there  was  time  enough  for  it  before  we  got 
started,  and  then,  what  distress  I  was  in  because  the 
doctor  didn't  whip  up  his  horse  with  all  his  might,  and 
not  stop  on  the  way  to  tell  all  inquiring  people  what  was 
the  cause  of  such  a  hurried  call !  Well,  the  good  doctor 
knew  more  about  "  fits  "  than  I  did,  and  reasoned  it  out, 
I  suppose,  that  the  man  was  probably  dead  from  the  first 
attack,  as  turned  out  to  be  the  case.  Dr.  Freeman  was  a 
republican,  and  represented  the  town  in  the  house  in  1862, 
with  great  dignity. 

Dr.  Tiffany  was  stately  in  bearing,  and,  by  polite, 
gentle  manners  and  a  wise  look  impressed  his  patients 
and  their  friends  favorably.  He  had  a  drug  store  in 
Collinsville,  and  I  remember  the  honor  he  conferred  upon 
me  in  my  youth,  by  an  invitation  to  become  his  clerk  and 
study  for  the  profession.  But  the  life  of  the  physician, 
with  no  time,  day  or  night,  he  can  call  his  own,  didn't 
appeal  to  me.  In  those  days  country  doctors  had  to  hold 

themselves  ready  for  any  service,  from  extracting  a  tooth 

to  amputating  a  limb ;  always  carrying  forceps,  and  some- 
times a  torturing  instrument,  called  a  turnkey,  which  was 
operated  very  much  as  a  derrick  is  for  extracting  rocks 
from  the  earth.  I  remember  how,  on  one  occasion  in  my 
youth,  when  I  was  suffering  from  toothache,  I  chanced  to 
meet  Dr.  Tiffany  on  the  street  and  asked  him  if  he  could 
relieve  me.  Of  course  he  could,  for  he  was  equipped  for 
it,  and  we  repaired  to  a  nearby  shed,  and  out  came  three 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  51 

teeth,  as  it  was  difficult  to  tell  which  was  the  offending 
member.  It  was  a  senseless  transaction  on  my  part,  but 
tooth-pulling  was  quicker  relief  than  filling,  and  scarcely 
more  painful  in  those  days,  when  dentists  didn't  use  co- 
caine to  enable  one  to  sleep  while  the  dentist  did  his  work. 
I  knew  all  about  the  filling  business,  for  I  had  spent  hours 
of  suffering  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Curtis  of  Collinsville, 
who,  however,  I  could  testify,  was  as  honest,  competent 
and  thorough  a  workman  in  his  line  as  I  ever  knew.  In 
one  respect  the  doctors  of  that  day  had  an  advantage  over 
those  of  this  day,  for  I  think  pneumonia  and  appendicitis 
hadn't  then  been  invented;  if  they  had,  I  didn't  happen 
to  hear  of  it. 

I  have  always  had  reason  to  remember  Dr.  Kasson 
gratefully.  He  was  my  father's  family  physician,  and  I 
therefore  assume  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  my  introduc- 
tion to  the  world.  I  trust  he  has  long  since  forgiven  me, 
if,  as  is  probable,  there  was  on  my  part  a  manifestation 
of  ingratitude  rather  than  gratitude  for  the  introduction. 
He  carried  my  mother  through  many  sicknesses,  more 
than  one  of  them  of  several  weeks'  duration,  when  her 
life  for  days  hung  in  the  balance.  He  was  self-reliant, 
heroic  in  his  treatment  of  disease,  rarely,  if  ever,  himself 
proposing  counsel,  was  understood  to  have  a  high  opinion 
of  calomel  as  a  remedy,  though  I  knew  from  a  little  ex- 
perience and  much  observation  that  his  little  paper  packets 
of  Dover  powders,  so  soothing  in  effect,  were  much  in 
evidence  in  the  sick  room.  He  was  moderate  in  his 
charges,  never,  in  his  early  practice  at  least,  more  than 
75  cents  for  the  longest  drives,  never  oppressing  poor 
people  who  couldn't  easily  pay,  never  accused  of  repeating 
visits  to  swell  his  bill,  quick  to  detect  and  expose  imaginary 
sickness,  in  which  latter  cases  he  prescribed  exercise  in- 
stead of  medicines,  in  doing  which  he  would,  of  course, 
sometimes  give  offense.  He  was  sober  and  stern  in  visage, 
brusque  in  manner,  tall  and  erect  in  his  bearing;  and, 


52 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


with  his  neck  elongated  by  his  high  stock,  did  in  that 
respect  somewhat  resemble  MicaWber,  as  Dickens  pic- 
tures him.  His  mode  of  travel  was  unique  and  attracted 
much  attention.  His  vehicle  was  a  high-up  gig  or  sulky, 
often  the  worse  for  age  and  wear.  While  making  calls, 
his  horse  would  graze  by  the  roadside,  and  sometimes 
would  stray  some  distance  from  the  house.  As  doctors 
are  rarely  at  home  at  meal  time,  on  the  wing  most  of  the 
time,  the  doctor  himself  would  many  times  receive  per- 
sonal refreshment  when  making  his  calls. 

My  mother  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  minister  to 
him  in  that  respect.  He  had  been  her  personal  savior  in 
several  sicknesses,  and  she  almost  worshiped  him.  The 
doctor  was  an  ardent  whig,  fond  of  talking  politics  with 
democrats,  whom  he  generally  fancied  he  had  worsted  in 
the  argument — and,  if  having  the  last  word  was  proof 
of  victory,  he  was  right  in  his  conclusion.  Canton  grati- 
fied his  ambition  by  sending  him  to  the  house  in  1846. 
The  doctor  had  sore  family  trials,  beginning  with  the 
death  of  a  promising  young  son,  whom  he  so  idolized  that 
he  was  inconsolable  at  his  funeral.  His  house  in  later 
years  was  struck  by  lightning,  the  bolt  entering  the  bed- 
room of  his  two  daughters,  occupying  the  same  bed,  in- 
stantly killing  one,  but  the  other  escaped.  Another  afflic- 
tion was  the  death  of  his  estimable  wife,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  General  Ezra  Adams  and  much  esteemed  in 
the  community. 

[The  doctor  would  be  proud  to  know,  if  he  could, 
that  he  has  now  a  son  by  a  later  wife  (Benj.  B.),  a 
doctor  practicing  in  Massachusetts.] 

LAWYERS. 

Canton  has  had  few  resident  lawyers,  never  more  than 
one  at  a  time,  I  think.  Orrin  S.  Case  was  located  there 
more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  represented  the  town  in 
the  house  in  1853.  Because  there  were  not  many  local 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


53 


attorneys,  no  one  should  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  Can- 
ton hadn't  much  litigation.  Lawyers  from  out  of  town 
often  came  in  to  help  the  contentious  enjoy  the  rich  luxury 
of  a  lawsuit.  I  recall  one  occasion,  when  those  distin- 
guished attorneys,  Truman  Smith  and  Charles  Chapman, 
once  came.  Delicacy  forbids  my  giving  the  names  of  the 
parties  to  the  celebrated  suit,  or  the  offense  involved.  Mr. 
Chapman  came  at  other  times,  once  in  defense  of  a  man 
charged  with  breaking  up  a  session  of  a  large  singing 
school  at  the  "  conference  house  "  at  the  center,  by  put- 
ting pepper  upon  the  stove  at  recess  time.  This  lawyer, 
as  might  almost  be  assumed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  con- 
sidering his  general  success  as  a  defender  in  criminal  cases, 
cleared  the  accused,  but  in  a  very  queer  way;  another 
person  confessed  he  did  the  deed.  [See  further  on  this 
incident,  item,  "  Pepper  on  Stove,"  p.  64.] 

GENERAL  JARVIS  CASE. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  General  Jarvis  Case,  who 
for  many  years  was  very  prominent  in  Canton  affairs.  He 
was  born  September  10,  1801,  and  died  March  18,  1864. 
There  were  some  noteworthy  incidents  (one  of  them  most 
sad)  in  his  life  and  in  that  of  his  family.  His  estimable 
wife,  Lucia,  daughter  of  General  Ezra  Adams,  to  whom 
he  was  married  March  26,  1828,  died  October  n,  1885. 
Their  children  were  Lucia  Helen,  commonly  called  by  her 
second  name,  born  April  13,  1829,  died  October  30, 
1845;  Mary  Jane,  born  March  15,  1832,  died  October 
31,  1855;  Ann  Lucelia,  born  January  12,  1839,  died  July 
3,  1903;  George  Jarvis,  born  November  15,  1835,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Ruth  Case,  February  20,  1861 ;  she  died  Janu- 
ary 14,  1902;  and  Ellen  Maria,  born  November  3,  1845, 
twice  married,  first  to  Edward  E.  Woodford,  September 
3,  1867,  and,  secondly,  to  Clifford  S.  Thompson,  October 
12,  1881. 

In  the  autumn  of  1845,  there  was  a  so-called  select 
school  in  the  "  conference  room  "  at  the  center,  taught 


54 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


by  my  brother,  Henry  Stiles,  and  Helen  was  a  much  loved 
member.  She  went  to  her  home  from  school  one  evening, 
in  perfect  health,  was  prostrated  that  night  with  profuse 
hemorrhages  at  the  nose,  and  died.  When  news  of  her 
death  came  next  morning  to  the  school,  a  scene  was  pre- 
sented never  to  be  forgotten.  Teacher  and  scholars  were 
overwhelmed  with  grief.  That  community  has  rarely,  if 
ever,  been  more  profoundly  moved  by  any  event.  The 
funeral  Cervices  took  place  at  the  church  opposite  the 
school  room,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spencer  of  New  Hartford 
preached  the  sermon,  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  Mr. 
Burt,  and  many  with  bowed  heads  and  sympathetic  hearts 
followed  the  dear  one  to  the  grave. 

It  was  my  great  privilege  and  honor  to  teach  a  similar 
school  at  that  same  room,  eleven  years  later,  and  George 
and  Ann  were  beloved  pupils.  The  school  was  made  up 
of  young  men  and  young  women  of  whom  any  teacher 
might  be  proud.  The  disparity  in  the  ages  of  teacher  and 
scholars  was  so  small,  that  it  would  not  have  been  strange 
if  the  imperfections  and  deficiencies  of  the  teacher  should 
have  led  to  manifestations  of  some  disrespect,  but,  fortu- 
nately, the  teacher  can  recall  no  such  manifestation,  and 
he  vividly  remembers  with  what  tearful  eyes  he  attempted 
to  address  a  few  parting  words  to  those  much  beloved 
scholars  at  the  close  of  school.  There  was  in  that  school 
a  lady  whom  it  seems  proper  to  mention  in  this  connec- 
tion, Miss  Sabra  L.  Beach,  subsequently  Mrs.  Harvy 
Godard,  of  Granby.  As  she  and  Miss  Ann  Lucelia,  sub- 
sequently the  wife  of  the  Hon.  Edwin  N.  White  (in  the 
house  from  Canton  in  1878),  sat  together  in  that  school 
room,  they  little  dreamed  of  the  tie  that  was  afterwards 
to  be  formed  between  them,  by  the  marriage  of  the  for- 
mer's son,  Oren  Harvy  Godard,  of  Granby,  to  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  latter. 

General  Case  organized  a  military  company  called  the 
"  Canton  cadets,"  was  its  first  captain,  and  was  advanced 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


55 


from  that  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  of  the  state 
militia.  He  was  a  man  of  striking  dignity  and  gentility, 
erect  and  stately  (though  of  medium  stature),  such  a  one 
as  would  attract  the  attention  of  strangers;  was  long 
prominent  in  the  choir,  taking  an  interest  in  its  pros- 
perity and  improvement,  participating  in  singing  schools 
sometimes  held  in  the  winter.  He  was  a  whig  till  the 
dissolution  of  that  party,  and  afterward  an  ardent  demo- 
crat. He  began  a  carefully  prepared  record  of  the 
weather  in  1857,  and  it  has  been  continued  by  his  son, 
George  J.,  since  his  death.  That  record  has  been  pub- 
lished in  THE  TIMES  monthly,  and  has  been  esteemed  for 
its  accuracy. 

No  RACE  SUICIDE. 

The  people  of  Canton  have  generally  been  quite 
obedient  to  the  divine  command,  given  to  the  original 
pair,  and  inferentially,  in  the  apparent  opinion  of  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt,  to  all  succeeding  pairs.  Large  families 
have  been  common.  The  people  bearing  our  name  have 
not  been  remiss  in  that  obedience.  The  spelling  of  the 
name  in  our  case,  as  in  the  case  of  some  other  families,  has 
not  been  uniform;  members  even  of  the  same  immediate 
family  sometimes  thus  varying.  Well,  the  craze  in  spell- 
ing reform  has  not  yet  extended  to  names  of  persons, 
hence  everybody  is  at  liberty  to  suit  his  own  taste  as  to 
spelling  his  own  name.  The  orthography  of  our  family 
name  has  been  quite  variant.  In  our  probate  records  of 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  the  name  is 
found  written  variously,  "  Barbur,"  "  Barber,"  "  Barbar," 
and  "  Barbour  "  -the  latter  orthography  occurs  as  often 
as  any  other,  I  think.  My  brother,  Heman,  led  our  family 
in  the  adoption  of  the  last  named  form,  when,  in  1840,  he 
located  in  the  west,  where  that  form  of  the  name  was 
common.  In  this  article,  as  I  mention  the  name  of  any 
person,  I  use  his  adopted  form  of  spelling. 


56  HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

Doctor  Samuel  Barber,  of  Canton,  had  fourteen  chil- 
dren, eleven  sons  and  three  daughters.  But,  it  should  be 
mentioned  that  there  were  two  mothers,  each  having 
seven  children,  the  first  wife's  all  boys.  Think  of  eleven 
boys  in  a  family!  There  must  have  been  music  there, 
"  to  beat  the  band !  " 

The  family  of  Daniel  Barber  was  very  large  and 
highly  respected.  Only  two  of  the  children  are  now 
living,  Daniel  Hiram,  and  Jane  Rood,  the  youngest. 
[Mrs.  Rood  has  since  died.]  The  family  of  Sadosa  Bar- 
ber was  large  and  much  respected.  All  the  children  are 
dead,  except  Hon.  Henry  M.  Barbour,  the  youngest  child, 
who  resides  in  the  house  where  he  was  born.  He  was  in 
the  house  in  1880.  The  daughter,  Melissa,  mother  of 
Rollin  D.  Lane,  of  Hartford,  long  resided  in  Collinsville 
and  was  much  beloved. 

FAMILY  OF  ALSON  BARBER. 

The  family  of  Alson  Barber  is  the  most  remarkable 
I  have  known,  and  seems  to  me  worthy  of  special  mention. 
He  was  born  May  6,  1792,  and  died  April  5,  1880.  He 
was  brother  to  Sadosa  (their  father,  Reuben,  being  the 
first  person  buried  in  the  Center  cemetery),  and  first  cousin 
to  my  father,  Henry  Barbour.  His  wife,  Hannah  Hum- 
phrey (born  December  4,  1796,  died  April  19,  1877), 
was  a  sister  to  the  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey,  D.D.,  (spoken 
of  on  pages  48  and  71 ),  and  sister  to  my  mother,  thus  pro- 
ducing double  relationship  between  the  children  of  the  two 
families.  John  Brown,  the  martyr,  was  first  cousin  to 
these  sisters  and  brother.  Alson  and  Hannah  were  mar- 
ried November  16,  1814,  and  the  following  named  twelve 
children  were  born  to  them:  Luther  Humphrey,  Maria, 
Nelson,  Harriet,  Sarah,  Gaylord,  John,  Jennette,  Lemuel, 
Mary,  Hannah  and  Martha.  All  of  these  children  lived 
to  adult  years,  all  were  married,  and  excepting  the  first 
named,  had  children  of  their  own.  The  only  ones  now 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


57 


living  are  Luther  [Luther  died  August  17,  1907],  Han- 
nah, widow  of  Howard  Rogers  of  Canton,  and  Martha, 
wife  of  Ervin  Whiting  of  Southington.  All  because  mem- 
bers of  the  church  in  their  youth  and  lived  exemplarily. 
The  parents  lived  together  most  happily  more  than  62 
years,  and  celebrated  their  golden  wedding  and  the  six- 
tieth anniversary  of  their  marriage.  At  the  former  cele- 
bration eleven  of  their  twelve  children  were  present,  and 
at  the  latter  nine  were  present.  Thirty-five  grandchildren 
were  living  at  the  time  of  the  former  celebration,  and  all 
the  children  were  living  at  the  sixty-second  anniversary 
of  the  parents'  marriage.  Luther  was  born  September  3, 
1815,  graduated  from  Amherst  college  in  class  of  1839, 
and  from  the  East  Windsor  Hill  Theological  seminary 
(succeeded  now  by  the  Hartford  Theological  seminary), 
in  class  of  1842.  He  is  the  last  surviving  member  of  his 
college  class,  which  at  the  time  of  graduation  numbered 
fifty-seven;  and  only  one  earlier  graduate  of  that  college  is 
living,  namely,  the  Rev.  John  H.  Wells  of  Kingston, 
R.  I.,  who  was  in  the  class  of  1837.  The  Rev.  Henry 
M.  Field  of  the  class  of  1841  is  the  only  earlier  living 
graduate  of  said  seminary  [since  died]. 

Mr.  Barber  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest 
Congregational  minister  now  living  in  Connecticut.  His 
active  ministry  was  continuous,  extending  over  a  period 
of  fifty  years,  during  which  he  had  pastorates  in  Hitch- 
cockville  (now  Riverton),  Scotland,  Hanover,  Bolton 
and  Vernon  Center.  He  was  married,  August  23,  1842, 
to  Miss  Lucinda  Taylor,  of  Canton,  and  they  lived  to- 
gether most  happily  nearly  fifty-four  years,  her  death 
occurring  April  20,  1896.  She  was  a  woman  of  many 
gifts,  and  one  of  the  most  lovable  I  ever  knew,  a  true  help- 
meet to  her  husband  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word. 
She  finished  her  education  at  South  Hadley  seminary, 
class  of  1841,  of  which  she  was  a  member  two  years, 
while  Miss  Mary  Lyon,  the  founder,  was  principal.  Mr. 


5  8  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

Barber  is  now  living  with  his  nephew,  Rev.  Clarence  H. 
Barber,  in  Danielson.  His  mind  is  clear,  memory  and 
hearing  good,  general  health  quite  good,  though  he  is 
nearly  blind  and  much  bowed  in  form,  and  unable  to  get 
about  much  without  assistance.  He  attended  church  on 
the  occasion  of  "  Old  People's "  day,  pronounced  the 
benediction,  his  voice  being  easily  heard  by  all  present. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barber  had  an  adopted  child,  Ella,  who 
was  to  them  all  that  she  could  have  been  had  she  been 
their  own  child.  She  tenderly  cared  for  him  after  the 
death  of  his  wife,  until  she  died,  November  29,  1904. 

Mr.  Barber  was  a  very  practical  preacher,  is  a  man 
of  saintly  character  and  he  greatly  endeared  'himself  to 
the  people  in  all  the  parishes  where  he  ministered.  He 
retains  a  deep  interest  in  all  the  affairs  of  church  and 
state  and  is  an  exceedingly  agreeable  conversationalist. 

The  second  daughter,  Harriet,  married  Amos  Grid- 
ley,  who  was  one  of  the  fortyniners,  who  went  to  Cali- 
fornia in  search  of  gold.  He  remained  there  a  few  years, 
and  returned  to  his  family,  having  been  successful  in  his 
pursuit. 

Gaylord,  the  third  son  (born  October  16,  1824,  died 
May  21,  1879),  was  the  first  of  the  children  to  die,  Mar- 
tha, the  youngest  child,  being  then  42  years  old,  she 
having  been  born  April  23,  1837.  He  was  first  married, 
May  8,  1850,  to  Catharine  Hayden,  of  Barkhamsted, 
and,  secondly,  on  November  22,  1868,  to  Miss  Jerusha 
Taylor,  a  niece  of  Luther's  wife.  By  the  first  marriage 
there  were  five  children,  all  of  whom  survived  their 
father.  The  eldest  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Sherman  E. 
Brown  of  Collinsville,  and  the  youngest  daughter,  Cath- 
arine H.,  was  for  twelve  years  a  missionary  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board  at  San  Sebastian,  Spain,  engaged  as  a  teacher 
in  a  school  there.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with  the 
United  States,  the  school  was  hastily  transferred  over  the 
line  into  France,  where  the  work  of  the  school  was  con- 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


59 


tinued,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the  school  returned  to 
Spain,  though  Miss  Barber's  health  failed  while  the 
school  was  in  France,  and  she  returned  home,  and  died, 
September  5,  1901.  The  second  daughter  is  also  dead. 
The  two  sons  of  Gaylord  are  Rev.  Clarence  Howard 
Barber,  and  Allison  H.  Barbour,  the  latter  being,  for  a 
time,  a  few  years  since,  a  successful  teacher  in  Professor 
Huntsinger's  business  college  in  Hartford,  and  since  that 
time  in  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt.,  and  is  professor,  having  charge 
of  the  commercial  department  in  the  academy  there.  Rev. 
Clarence  graduated  at  Amherst  college,  class  of  1877 
and  from  the  Hartford  Theological  seminary  in  class  of 
1880.  In  college  he  won  prizes  in  deb.ate,  and  in  athletics. 
His  first  settlement  as  pastor  was  at  Torringford,  his 
second  at  Manchester,  where  he  remained  more  than  eight- 
een years,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  a  call  from  the 
Westfield  Congregational  church  in  Danfelson,  where  he 
now  is.  In  1885,  during  his  pastorate  in  Torringford, 
he  was  one  of  the  representatives  from  Torrington  in  the 
house,  and  served  on  the  committee  on  education. 

In  1899  he  was  chaplain  of  the  house,  in  1901  chap- 
lain of  the  senate.  He  was  married  September  29,  1880, 
to  Miss  Mary  Johnson,  of  Morris.  They  have  three 
sons,  Edward,  Yale,  '05,  is  a  teacher  in  the  Peekskill  Mili- 
tary academy;  Laurence,  Yale,  class  '10;  and  Harold,  a 
student  in  Danielson  high  school.  Mr.  Barber  is  modest 
and  dignified  in  bearing;  attaches  to  himself  warm  friends 
among  the  people;  active  in  what  concerns  good  citizen- 
ship; tactful,  sympathetic  and  helpful  in  pastoral  work; 
sound  in  doctrine  and  judgment;  undemonstrative  yet 
pleasing  in  delivery,  having  such  facility  in  substantially 
memorizing  his  carefully  prepared  sermons  as  to  be  able 
to  discard  his  manuscript,  and  thus  to  have  that  freedom 
which  apparently  extemporaneous,  eye-to-eye  expression 
affords.  It  is  safe  to  predict  for  him  continued  growth 
and  advancement  in  his  chosen  work.  His  stepmother  is 


50  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

happily  making  her  home  in  his  family.  Mary,  the  fifth 
daughter  of  Alson,  died  several  years  since,  leaving  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom  a  talented  woman,  Mrs.  Jennette  Lee, 
is  a  professor  in  Smith  college,  having  a  husband  resid- 
ing in  Northampton.  A  member  of  my  family  in  the 
faculty  of  that  institution  informs  me,  that  Mrs.  Lee  is 
deservedly  very  popular  with  the  students,  and  is  very 
successful  as  a  teacher.  A  pleasing  story  from  her  pen 
occasionally  appears  in  some  periodical. 

EAST  WINDSOR  SEMINARY. 

In  closing,  a  word  about  East  Windsor  seminary 
building,  where  Mr.- Luther  Barber  was  educated  for  the 
ministry.  On  this  day  of  increased  interest  in  ancient 
buildings,  permit  me,  please,  to  suggest  how  fitting  it 
would  be  to  have  steps  taken  for  the  preservation  of  these 
buildings.  They  are  right  on  the  trolley  line,  and,  there- 
fore, very  accessible.  What  a  boon  some  one  or  more 
persons  could  confer  on  deserving  people  by  purchasing 
the  property,  and  the  conversion  of  the  buildings  for 
some  charitable  purpose,  for  instance,  a  home  for  the 
widows  of  poor  clergymen.  Judge  Stoughton,  who  lives 
near  by,  and  has  long  been  familiar  with  the  premises, 
says  the  seminary  proper,  and  the  chapel,  are  changed 
very  little  from  their  original  condition.  They  are  said 
to  belong  to  Nannie  S.  Verner,  are  unoccupied,  and  pre- 
sumably for  sale. 

S.  B. 
Hartford,  December  i,  1906. 


[Editorial  HARTFORD  TIMES,  Dec.  6,  1906.] 

Another  of  Judge  Sylvester  Barbour's  excellent  chap- 
ters of  local  reminiscences  is  printed  on  page  3  of  this 
issue.  It  deals  with  Canton,  and  is  worth  reading. 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES  6  I 

NOTE. 

(Data  concerning  the  family  of  Alson  Barber,  supplementary  to 
the   foregoing   letter.) 

MARRIAGES  OF   His  CHILDREN. 

(Phoebe)   Maria  to  James  H.  Coe,  May  10,  1846. 

Nelson  L.  ist,  to  Zilpah  Case  (sister  of  Uriah),  September 
12,  1846;  do.,  ad,  to  Julia  Smith,  January  I,  1868. 

Harriet  (E.)   to  Amos  Gridley,  September  16,   1840. 

Sarah  E.  to  Lucius  Foote,  May  i,  1844. 

John,  ist,  to  Maria  Mills,  April  4,  1849;  ad,  to  Susan  Vin- 
ton,  June  14,  1869. 

Jennette  to  James  T.  Allyn,  November  27,  1851. 

Lemuel  to  Susan  E.  Case,  November  23,   1854. 

Mary  to  P.  Franklin  Perry,  April  19,   1854. 

Hannah  to  Howard  Rogers,  December  6,   1865. 

Martha  J.  to  Solomon  Ervin  Whiting,  January  29;   1861. 

CHILDRENT  OF  MARIA. 
George,  Cornelia,  Willie,  Charles. 

CHILDREN  OF  NELSON. 
Edda  J.,  Delia,  John. 

CHILDREN  OF   HARRIET. 
Lucelia  E.,  Kate  M. 

CHILD  OF  SARAH. 
Ellen  E. 

CHILDREN  OF  GAYLORD. 
Florence  I.,   Clarence   H.,  Adelaide,   Catharine,  Allison. 

CHILDREN  OF  JOHN. 

(First  Wife.) 
John  M.,  Nellie,  Carrie. 

( Second   Wife. ) 
Jennie,  Mary,  Herbert. 

CHILDREN  OF  JENNETTE. 
Laura  H.,  Herbert,  Ethan. 

CHILDREN  OF   LEMUEL. 
Lucy  A.,  Cora  H. 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

CHILDREN  OF  MARY. 
Alice  M.,  Kate,  Jennette  B.,  Grace,  Florence. 

CHILDREN  OF  HANNAH. 
Stanley  H.,  Ervin. 

CHILDREN  OF  MARTHA. 
Carrie  M.,  Josephine  B.,  Lizzie  M. 

DEATHS. 

Luther  H.,  August  17,  1907. 

Phebe  Maria,  February  9,  1892. 

Nelson  L.,  January  5,  1885. 

Harriet,  June  24,  1898. 

Sarah,  August  30,   1883. 

Gaylord,  May  21,   1879. 

John,  April  10,   1894. 

Jennette,  January   19,   1905. 

Mary,  May  14,  1895. 

Lemuel,  February  13,  1892. 

Lucius  Foote,  April  23,  1860. 

Zilpah,  February  28,   1866. 

Maria  Mills,  first  wife  of  John,  September  22,   1867. 

James,  H.  Coe,  April  23,  1890. 

Howard  Rogers,  February  12,  1894. 

Amos  Gridley,  February  24,  1901. 

Solomon  Ervin  Whiting,  January  16,  1908. 

S.  B. 


[THE  HARTFORD  DAILY  TIMES,  Saturday,  March  q,  1907.] 


CANTON  REMINISCENCES; 

TOLD  BY  JUDGE  BARBOUR. 


FOURTH  IN  THE  SERIES  OF  INTERESTING  ARTICLES  ON 
COUNTRY  LIFE  OF  LONG  AGO. 


ABOUT  THE   HUMPHREY   FAMILY. 


To  the  Editor  of  THE  TIMES  : 

If  you  and  your  readers  are  not  weaned  with  Canton 
reminiscences,  may  I  add  this  further  chapter?  I  wish 
to  say,  I  fully  appreciate  the  great  honor  you  have  con- 
ferred upon  me,  permitting  me  to  speak  to  90,000  readers 
of  a  paper  so  widely  circulated  and  so  highly  esteemed 
as  THE  HARTFORD  TIMES.  You  give  your  average  daily 
circulation  as  over  19,000,  each  copy  of  which  I  assume 
may  be  read  by  an  average  of  five  persons,  at  least.  I 
realize,  too,  that  to  make  articles  concerning  local  matters 
generally  readable,  to  some  extent  they  must  be  of  general 
interest. 

In  area,  Canton  is  a  small  town,  abounding  in  rocks 
and  hills,  yet,  in  its  time  it  has  produced  many  very 
staunch  and  upright  men  and  noble  women,  some  of  whom 
have  distinguished  themselves  in  the  learned  professions, 
in  this  and  other  states;  and,  being  the  seat  of  an  exten- 
sive manufacturing  industry,  so  well  managed  and  pros- 
perous that  its  stock  is  gradually  soaring  to  the  $200 
mark,  a  concern  furnishing  implements  of  great  variety, 
always  true  to  representation,  and  of  world-wide  use,  I 
think  I  hazard  nothing  when  I  say  the  town  has  a  good 
reputation. 

In  giving  dates  of  events,  I  am  careful  to  verify  them, 


64  HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

well  knowing  that  otherwise  they  are  valueless;  and,  in 
mentioning  occurrences  and  relating  anecdotes,  to  state 
nothing  that  is  not  personally  known  to  myself,  or  coming 
to  me  well  attested,  manufacturing  nothing  for  embellish- 
ment. In  that  way,  I  hope  I  am  contributing  in  some 
small  degree  to  the  enjoyment  of  present  readers,  and  to- 
the  help  of  posterity  in  historical  matters. 

PEPPER  ON  THE  STOVE. 

My  allusion  in  my  last  article  to  the  disturbance  of 
the  singing  school  at  the  center,  by  the  putting  of  pepper 
on  the  stove  at  recess  time,  must  have  raised  the  query  in 
some  minds,  what  led  to  that  act,  and  what  happened  to 
the  person  who  came  forward  at  the  time  of  the  trial  of 
the  accused  person,  defended  by  Charles  Chapman,  and 
confessed  the  deed?  There  had  been  a  division  of  senti- 
ment as  to  who  should  be  the  teacher,  Mr.  Charles  Foote 
or  Warren  C.  Humphrey,  both  Canton  men  and  capable 
teachers,  each  having  many  friends,  the  contest  being 
quite  sharp,  Mr.  Foote  being  chosen.  The  confessing 
person  was  evidently  of  the  Humphrey  party,  who  had 
been  outvoted.  Mr.  Chapman  had  been  let  into  the  secret 
as  to  the  facts,  and,  presumably  on  his  direction,  the  guilty 
one  went  beforehand  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  plead 
guilty  and  was  fined  one  dollar.  As  the  accused  man  was 
acquitted,  it  should  not  seem  improper  to  mention  his 
name  (Mr.  Thorpe),  but  I  forbear  to  give  the  name  of 
the  confessing  party.  He  is  still  living,  a  respectable 
citizen,  and  so  far  as  I  have  ever  heard,  has  never  been 
charged  with  any  other  misdoing.  For  a  long  time  he 
had  an  unpleasant  prefix  to  his  name. 

I  spoke  in  the  late  article  of  the  burning  in  the  night 
time  of  the  "  Squire  "  Hallock  dwelling-house  and  many 
of  the  records  of  the  town,  of  which  he  was  clerk,  as 
having  occurred  in  the  40*8.  It  was,  however,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1838.  I  remember  the  event  well,  and  hearing  at 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  65 

the  time,  that  in  efforts  made  to  get  some  of  the  effects 
out,  a  simple-minded  man  carried  out  an  armful  of  fire 
wood.  Austin  N.  Humphrey  happened  that  night  to  be 
on  the  way  from  the  north  part  of  the  town,  where  was 
a  powder  manufactory,  carrying  a  load  of  kegs  of  powder, 
and,  as  he  was  anxious  to  reach  his  destination  before  day- 
light, it  not  being  considered  prudent  to  transport  powder 
in  the  daytime,  when  the  people  might  be  on  the  street, 
he  risked  the  safety  of  his  load  by  covering  it  with  wet 
blankets,  and  passed  the  burning  building  unharmed.  On 
the  4th  day  of  July  of  that  year,  while  some  young  men 
were  preparing  to  celebrate,  by  firing  an  extemporized 
cannon  at  North  Canton,  a  keg  of  powder  exploded, 
fatally  injuring  Chauncey  Moses-'s  son,  Harry,  who  died 
the  next  day,,  and  others  of  the  company  were  severely 
burned.  Not  long  afterward,  the  manufacture  of  powder 
at  that  place  was  given  up,  the  buildings  taken  down, 
some  of  the  materials  of  which  were  carried  to  Collins- 
ville  and  used  in  constructing  dwelling-houses. 

OLD  CUSTOM.  • 

In  the  early  days  of  which  I  speak,  and  until  recently, 
it  was  the  custom  to  ring  and  toll  the  church  bell  for 
deaths,  first,  a  short  ring,  then,  pausing  a  moment,  to  give 
information  to  the  community  as  to  whom  it  might  prob- 
ably be,  nine  strokes  for  a  man,  seven  for  a  woman,  five 
for  a  male  child,  and  three  for  a  female  child  were  given. 
Personally  I  never  knew  the  ceremony  to  occur  in  the 
evening,  but  am  informed  that  it  did  a  few  years  since, 
when  Howard  Foote's  first  wife  died,  adding  greatly  to 
the  mournfulness  of  the  occasion.  At  the  time  of  a 
funeral,  the  bell  was  tolled  from  the  time  the  head  of  the 
procession  could  be  seen  from  the  church  until  the  audi- 
ence was  seated  in  church  (most  funeral  services  were  in 
the  church,  with  sermon)  ;  and  then,  in  passing  from  the 


66  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

church  to  the  graveyard  near  by,  and  until  the  burial  was 
completed.  I  vividly  remember  how  we  would  pause  in 
our  farm  work,  when  we  heard  the  bell  strike,  first,  to 
learn  whether  the  dead  one  was  an  adult  or  child,  then 
count  the  strokes  for  the  age,  then  speculate  as  to  who 
probably  was  the  dead  person.  In  the  tolling  of  the  bell 
there  was  a  solemnity  connected  with  death  and  funerals, 
befitting  the  occasion.  I  suppose  there  are  people  who 
are  glad  that  custom  has  ceased,  but  I  am  not.  It  seems 
to  me  we  cannot  too  often  be  impressively  reminded  of 
our  own  mortality.  In  the  procession  to  the  church,  and 
in  that  from  the  church  to  the  cemetery,  when  burial  was 
not  in  that  near-by,  the  horses  were  driven  always  in  a 
walk. 

The  modern  way,  sometimes  practiced,  of  trotting  the 
horses  in  funeral  processions,  seems  to  me  like  an  effort 
to  get  through  with  an  unpleasant  duty  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  quite  unbecoming  on  so  solemn  an  occasion. 
In  those  days  neighbors  were  called  in,  usually  in  pairs, 
to  "watch"  with  the  dead  at  night,  for  hourly  applica- 
tion of  a  saturated  -  cloth  to  the  face  to  preserve  the 
features,  a  gruesome  ceremony  I  went  through  with  once 
in  my  youth,  in  the  case  of  a  much  emaciated  aged  man, 
my  associate,  younger  than  myself,  and  less  impressed 
than  myself  with  the  awful  silence  of  the  dead,  made 
more  so  by  the  profound  stillness  of  night  in  the  country, 
performing  the  duty  put  upon  us,  while  I  held  the  candle 
at  arm's  length,  and  with  averted  look.  I  doubt  if  I  am 
alone  in  this  feeling  of  dread.  It  extends  to  the  lower 
animals.  If  any  one  doubts  this,  let  him  try  to  drive  a 
horse  by  a  dead  one,  lying  by  the  roadside;  let  him  drive 
a  herd  of  cattle  over  a  spot  where  an  animal  has  been 
killed,  the  only  evidence  of  which  killing  is  the  blood 
remaining  on  the  ground,  the  very  sight  and  smell  of 
which  sets  the  herd  bellowing  in  distress,  and  otherwise 
manifesting  that  distress. 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  67 

In  the  early  days  of  the  last  century  stoves  had  not 
come  into  much  use,  and  the  mode  of  heating  dwellings 
and  doing  cooking  was  by  a  fire  in  large  fireplaces,  con- 
nected with  whi.ch  in  the  chimney  was  a  large  brick  oven 
for  much  of  the  baking.  The  chimneys  were  much  larger 
than  those  of  today,  that  in  the  house  in  which  I  was  born, 
built  more  than  100  years  ago,  is  nine  feet  square  at  the 
base  in  the  cellar,  with  an  immense  fireplace  and  oven 
(both  now  bricked  up,  however),  on  the  first  floor,  and 
an  apartment  in  its  side  in  the  attic,  for  smoking  hams. 
Chimneys  of  similar  size  were  common  in  those  days,  some 
of  which  still  remain.  Churches  were  rarely,  if  ever, 
heated  by  a  fireplace,  and  not  much  heated  at  all,  the  zeal 
of  the  worshipers  and  their  interest  in  the  services  being 
calculated,  I  suppose,  to  make  them  unmindful  of  the 
cold  atmosphere  about  them.  The  women  helped  out  the 
situation  somewhat  by  their  heated  bricks  and  their  foot 
stoves,  often  quite  ornamental  articles,  about  nine  inches 
square,  and  not  quite  so  deep,  made  of  metal,  with  per- 
forated sides,  a  wire  bail,  a  door  in  front  for  putting  in 
a  metal  pan,  in  which  was  burning  charcoal.  One  effect  of 
the  poisonous  gas,  emanating  from  the  charcoal,  was  to 
produce  drowsiness  in  the  worshipers,  which  would  lessen 
their  consciousness  of  the  cold  air  about  them.  At  noon- 
time, to  get  warm  between  services  (then  they  had  two 
sermons)  people  repaired  to  the  "  conference  house " 
across  the  street,  a  building  some  forty  feet  long,  in  each 
end  of  which  was  ready  a  huge  fire  in  a  large  fireplace. 
About  the  time  of  my  earliest  recollection,  however,  box 
stoves  began  to  come  into  use,  and  two  large  ones  were 
placed  in  the  church,  near  the  front  end,  with  long  reaches 
of  smokepipe  suspended  to  the  side  galleries,  running  to 
the  back  end  of  the  church,  an  arrangement  common  in 
the  churches  at  that  time,  but  very  unpleasant  for  persons 
sitting  underneath  the  pipe  because  of  too  much  heat  for 
their  heads,  and  occasional  wet,  sooty  drippings  at  the 


68  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

joints,  protected,  however,  sometimes  by  a  saucer-shaped 
metal  receptacle  suspended  by  wire  under  the  joints. 

AMUSING  ANECDOTE. 

Speaking  of  methods  of  heating,  I  might  add  an  amus- 
ing anecdote.  There  was  an  implement  in  quite  common 
use  in  families,  called  a  bed-warmer,  made  of  copper  or 
other  metal,  about  the  size  of  a  common  milk  pan,  with- 
a  tight-fitting  cover  and  long  handle.  In  preparation  for 
retiring,  this  article  was  filled  with  hot  ashes,  coals,  or 
water,  and  moved  about  in  the  bed  to  warm  it.  In  the 
case  referred  to,  the  labors  of  the  wife  generally  kept 
her  up  far  into  the  night  in  the  repair  of  garments  that 
had  been  vacated  for  the  night  (an  experience,  by  the 
way,  common  with  my  dear  mother) ,  and  until  her  hus- 
band had  lapsed  into  deep  sleep,  and  she  had  been  often 
cautioned  by  him,  .to  be  careful  when  applying  the  instru- 
ment to  her  side  of  the  bed,  preparatory  to  her  retiring, 
not  to  hit  him,  and  seemed  so  distrustful  of  her  skill  in 
the  operation,  she  thought  one  very  cold  night  to  have  a 
little  fun  at  his  expense,  and  filled  the  implement  with 
snow,  making  it  as  cold  as  possible,  then  placed  it  in  such 
a  position  in  the  bed  as  to  touch  his  person,  when  he 
awoke,  sprang  up,  with  the  agonizing  exclamation, 
"  There !  I  knew  you  would  scald  me  some  time !  "  Pre- 
sumably, after  that,  he  trusted  her  not  to  "  scald  "  him. 

THE  FIRST  MATCHES. 

The  introduction  of  matches,  not  more  than  seventy- 
five  years  ago,  relieved  families  of  much  trouble  as  to 
their  fires.  Before  that  time,  when  the  weather  did  not 
require  keeping  up  fires  through  the  night,  for  warming 
dwellings,  by  carefully  covering  the  embers  with  ashes,  fire 
could  generally  be  kept  for  kindling  in  the  morning.  If 
this  expedient  failed,  there  were  different  methods  for 
starting  fire  in  the  morning.  Families  who  had  a  flint- 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


69 


lock  musket,  with  it  could  produce  a  spark,  which,  com- 
municated to  a  sprinkling  of  powder  and  tow,  or  other 
very  inflammable  substance,  would  accomplish  the  desired 
result.  Then,  there  was  a  punky  substance,  or  tinder, 
which,  if  ignited  at  bedtime,  might  keep  the  fire  all  night, 
and  a  pipe-stem  shaped,  slow-burning  substance  could  be 
utilized  in  like  manner.  But  it  was  not  unusual,  when  a 
family  lost  its  fire  during  the  night,  in  the  morning  to  go 
to  a  neighbor's  to  borrow  some.  And  this  leads  me  to 
speak  of  the  memorable  ijth  day  of  November,  1833. 
During  the  night  before,  my  parents  lost  their  fire,  and  at 
an  early  hour  in  the  morning  they  sent  my  brother,  Henry 
Stiles,  then  1 1  years  old,  to  get  some  fire  at  a  neighbor's, 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant.  While  on  the  way,  across  the 
fields,  there  came  that  shower  of  shooting  stars,  and  he 
returned  in  deadly  fright. 

I  cannot  better  describe  that  extraordinary  scene  than 
by  copying  from  the  weekly  COURANT  of  November  18 
this  graphic  account:  "  The  sky  was  for  hours  filled  with 
luminous  meteors,  shooting  and  falling  in  every  direction, 
crossing  each  other  in  their  courses,  and  leaving  behind 
them  trains  of  great  length  and  brilliancy.  They  assumed 
a  variety  of  forms,  sometimes  darting  across  the  heavens 
like  an  ordinary  shooting  star,  at  others,  suddenly  making 
their  appearance  like  a  ball  of  fire,  then  separating,  as 
if  by  an  explosion,  into  a  great  number  of  parts,  and  van- 
ishing like  the  fragments  of  a  rocket.  The  exhibition, 
all  agree,  was  grand  and  splendid  beyond  description." 
The  whole  sky  was  brilliantly  illuminated,  and  the  meteors 
so  numerous,  as  to  resemble  a  shower  of  fire. 
The  sky,  during  the  whole  time  of  this  remarkable  exhi- 
bition, was  bright  and  without  a  cloud."  In  Volume  16 
of  Encyclopedia  Brittanica  is  this :  '  The  air  was  thick 
with  streams  of  rolling  fire;  scarcely  a  space  in  the  firma- 
ment that  was  not  filled  at  every  instant  —  almost  infinite 
numbers  of  meteors;  they  fell  like  flakes  of  snow." 


7Q  HARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 

A  few  years  afterward,  there  occurred  a  thunder 
shower  and  tornado,  very  destructive  in  Canton  and  else- 
where. Toward  night  on  Saturday,  August  9,  1851,  while 
we  were  at  work  in  the  hay  field,  an  angry,  billowy  cloud 
suddenly  appeared  above  the  western  horizon,  quickly 
enveloping  the  whole  sky,  accompanied  by  furious  wind, 
of  wide  extent,  prostrating  crops  and  fences,  uprooting 
trees  of  great  size,  and  doing  much  damage  generally. 
The  pathway  of  the  storm  in  its  greatest  severity,  how- 
ever, was  not  wide;  its  intensest  force  in  Canton  being 
concentrated  at  a  forest  of  heavy  timber  on  the  western 
slope  of  a  mountain,  a  few  rods  south  of  the  residence  of 
Deacon  Lancel  Foote.  It  mowed  a  swath,  so  to  speak, 
through  that  forest,  up  the  mountain,  about  100  feet  wide, 
breaking  down  trees  of  great  size,  leveling  to  the  ground 
everything  before  it.  A  little  to  the  westward,  right  in 
the  line  of  that  gale,  Captain  Loin  Humphrey  was  at 
work  raking  hay,  when  the  wind  swept  him  and  the  hay 
a  considerable  distance.  The  next  day,  Sunday,  was  a 
busy  one  for  farmers,  putting  up  fences  to  secure  their 
crops  from  cattle;  and,  for  days,  and  until  prostrate  trees 
in  highways  were  removed,  travel  to  a  considerable  extent 
was  through  fields  adjoining. 

In  some  localities  in  the  state,  lightning  and  hail  did 
much  damage  during  that  storm.  Edward  Ackert,  of 
Canton,  and  another  man  were  fishing  in  the  Farmington 
river,  and  had  to  get  into  it  to  protect  themselves  from 
the  wind  and  hailstones.  In  North  Canton  the  barn  of 
Watson  Case  was  struck  by  lightning,  and  two  steers  be- 
longing to  Richard  Case  were  killed.  In  West  Hartford 
barns  were  blown  down,  some  twenty  were  unroofed,  and 
one  was  moved  two  or  three  feet  from  its  foundation.  In 
Windsor  hundreds  of  trees  were  torn  up  by  the  roots, 
some  twenty  barns  unroofed,  and  one  woman  was  killed, 
by  being  buried  under  a  falling  chimney.  The  force  of 
the  gale  was  sometimes  confined  to  a  very  narrow  limit. 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES  7  r 

In  Simsbury,  in  one  cornfield,  it  was  confined  to  two  or 
three  rows,  sweeping  the  ground  clean  of  stalks,  doing 
little  damage  to  rows  bordering  thereon.  THE  TIMES, 
in  speaking  of  the  storm,  said,  "  The  present  season  will 
long  be  remembered  on  account  of  the  frequency  of  thun- 
derstorms, and  destruction  of  life  and  property."  There 
was  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  (one- fourth  covered)  in  the 
early  morning  of  July  '28,  and  some  people  would  nat- 
urally connect  that,  in  its  effects,  with  the  tornado. 
That's  a  question  for  the  scientists. 

THE  HUMPHREY  FAMILY. 

In  earlier  articles,  I  have  spoken  of  noteworthy  fami- 
lies in  Canton.  I  wish  now  to  speak  of  those  bearing  the 
name  Humphrey;  and,  to  begin  with,  I  think  I  may  prop- 
erly speak  of  my  mother's  brother,  the  Rev.  Heman 
Humphrey,  D.D.,  born  in  Canton  in  1779,  in  a  house 
located  near  where  the  venerable  Levi  Case  now  lives. 
He  died  in  1861.  His  father,  Solomon,  and  other  rela- 
tives of  the  name,  were  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  Solo- 
mon had  fifteen  children,  his  first  wife  two,  and  his  second 
(Hannah  Brown,  aunt  of  John  Brown,  the  martyr), 
thirteen,  the  former  and  nine  of  the  latter,  living  to  adult 
years.  The  doctor  was  president  of  Amherst  college, 
1823-45,  while  he  was  rearing  and  educating  his  children, 
three  of  his  sons,  Edward  P.,  D.D.,  Zephaniah  and  John, 
becoming  distinguished  clergymen,  located  respectively  in 
Danville,  Ky.,  Chicago,  and  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  and  one 
son,  James*  a  prominent  lawyer  in  New  York  city,  and 
for  several  years  a  member  of  congress  from  New  York. 
The  latter's  wife  was  Urania  Battell,  sister  of  the  Hon. 
Robbins  Battell,  they,  and  other  members  of  that  noted 
family,  giving  to  the  Congregational  church  of  Norfolk, 
Battell  chapel.  John,  in  college,  was  called  "  the  Apostle 
John,"  on  account  of  his  gentleness  and  goodness.  The 


72  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

mother  of  these  children  was  a  sister  of  the   Rev.   Dr. 
Noah  Porter,  president  of  Yale  college. 

Deacon  Theophilus  Humphrey  (a  son  of  Samuel, 
who  was  born  in  1710) ,  was  a  resident  of  West  Simsbury, 
now  Canton,  many  years  subsequent  to  1750.  He  had 
eleven  children,  a  daughter,  Hepzibah,  born  1767,  who 
married  Jesse  Barbour;  five  of  his  sons,  James,  born  in 
1765,  died  1830;  Alvin,  born  in  1769,  died  1847;  The- 
ophilus, Jr.,  born  1776,  died  1851 ;  Loin,  born  1777,  died 
1854,  and  Pliny,  born  1780,  died  1852;  were  life-long 
residents  of  the  Canton  part  of  Simsbury,  and  assisted  in 
the  setting  off  of  it  as  a  town  in  1806,  and  were  prominent 
in  public  affairs.  James  was  a  trying  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  nine  times  a  representative  in  the  legislature.  Le- 
Roy  Jones  of  Collinsville  informs  me  that  when  he  went 
to  live  in  the  house  sixteen  years  after  James's  death,  the 
papers  then  remaining  in  the  house,  showing  the  extent 
of  his  participation  in  public  affairs,  were  numerous.  Al- 
vin was  in  the  house  in  1821.  Loin  (in  the  house  '24 
and  '29),  was  a  man  of  keen  mind  and  an  interesting 
talker.  I  remember  him  well;  he  was  a  noticeable  figure 
on  the  street,  with  his  long  homemade,  straight  walking 
cane,  extending  above  his  hand  several  inches.  His  sons 
were  men  of  great  intelligence  and  prominence.  Warren 
C.  (house  '59  and  '72),  was  a  pillar  in  the  church,  long 
the  leader  of  its  choir,  was  thrice  married,  first,  to  a 
daughter  of  General  Ezra  Adams,  a  woman  of  rare  amia- 
bility, secondly,  to  Mrs.  Eliza  Ann  (Hinman).  Moses, 
a  very  intelligent  woman,  and  thirdly  to  Albert  Bidwell's 
widow,  whose  maiden  name  was  Pike,  a  very  estimable 
woman,  still  living  in  Canton;  Loin  Harmon  (house, 
'56),  having  four  daughters,  Sophia,  Ellen,  widow  of 
the  Rev.  David  Strong;  Emily,  widow  of  the  Rev.  Ed- 
ward Bentley;  and  Fidelia,  wife  of  Major  Horatio  N. 
Rust,  who  lately  died  in  California;  all  of  these  daughters, 
except  Fidelia,  are  still  living  [Emily  died  September  2, 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


73 


1907];  Mrs.  Strong  having  three  sons  who  are  clergy- 
men; Austin  N.  (house,  '49),  having  a  son  bearing  his 
own  name  and  four  daughters,  the  eldest,  Jane,  being 
the  first  wife  of  the  late  Hon.  Jeffery  O.  Phelps  of  Sims- 
bury  and  mother  of  Jeffery  O.  Phelps,  the  present  judge 
of  probate  of  Simsbury.  A  daughter  of  the  first-named 
Loin  was  the  wife  of  the  late  Oliver  C.  Adams  (house, 
'52).  The  said  Pliny's  son,  Pliny  Orestes  Humphrey 
(house,  '54),  was  the  father  of  Rollin  O.  Humphrey 
(house,  '57).  The  last  named  is  still  living,  as  is  his 
cultured  wife,  Caroline  Mills,  daughter  of  the  late  Hon. 
Ephraim  Mills  of  Canton,  and  he  has  been  prominent  in 
town  affairs,  serving  in  most  of  the  offices  of  the  town, 
and,  until  lately,  as  juror  in  our  national  and  state  courts, 
much  esteemed  in  that  capacity  by  litigants  and  lawyers, 
and  not  infrequently  selected  by  his  associates  for  their 
foreman.  Alvin  had  a  son,  Dwight,  who,  like  Zaccheus, 
mentioned  in  Scripture,  was  quite  diminutive  in  stature. 
He  was  sometimes  chaffed  because  of  that,  and  his  reply 
usually  was,  "  What  I  lack  in  stature,  I  make  up  in  feel- 
ing," gospel  truth,  J  may  say.  Not  that  he  was  puffed 
up,  haughty,  conceited,  but  courageous,  energetic,  chuck 
full  of  push.  He  combined  with  farming,  carpenter  work, 
getting  out  by  hand  the  frames  for,  and  putting  up  many 
buildings.  People  of  the  present  day  have  little  concep- 
tion of  what  it  was  to  erect  buildings  of  the  style  of  those 
common  in  those  days.  Now,  four  or  five  men  can  put 
up  the  so-called  balloon-framed  buildings,  one  stick  of 
moderate  size  at  a  time.  Then  the  timbers  were  much 
larger,  joined  together  in  bents  or  sections,  preparatory 
to  being  lifted  into  position,  often  requiring  twenty  or 
more  men  to  do  the  raising  and  great  skill  in  the  master 
of  ceremonies,  to  see  that  there  was  no  mishap.  Mr. 
Humphrey  could  direct  and  command  with  wonderful 
skill  and  efficiency  the  neighbors  called  together  to  assist 
in  the  raising.  I  fancy  I  can  hear  his  stentorian  and  in- 


74  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

spiring  voice,  when  commanding  his  assistants.  Boys 
were  permitted  to  attend  as  witnesses,  a  treat  they  greatly 
appreciated,  chiefly,  however,  because  of  the  raisin  cake 
served  at  the  close  of  ceremonies. 

I  well  remember  how  we  children,  in  playing  in  the 
barn  of  my  father,  would  run  across  the  big  beams,  a 
dozen  feet  above  the  floor,  feeling  as  safe  as  when  walk- 
ing on  the  ground,  because  of  the  great  size  of  those 
timbers.  A  man  could  readily  stand  and  balance  himself 
on  them,  in  pitching  sheaves  of  grain  to  the  upper  scaf- 
fold. Mr.  Francis  A.  Gillette,  now  owning  that  barn, 
which  is  more  than  100  years  old,  has  measured  for  me 
some  of  the  timbers.  The  beams  are  10x12  inches,  the 
posts  supporting  them  11x12,  and,  as  if  to  prevent  posts 
and  beams  ever  parting  company,  they  are  fastened  to- 
gether with  three  wood  pins  at  each  joint,  an  inch  and  a 
half  in  diameter;  the  plates  and  purline  plates  40  feet 
long,  supporting  the  rafters,  the  former  at  the  lower  end 
and  the  latter  midway  between  ends,  7x9  inches;  the 
rafters,  over  20  feet  long,  4x5  inches;  ridge  pole  6x6 
inches,  each  of  these  timbers  being  hewed  with  axe  from 
one  oak  log  or  pole  for  each  timber.  The  men  who  pre- 
pared those  timbers  and  erected  that  building  have  re- 
turned to  dust,  but  their  work  may  be  expected  to  last  for 
centuries  longer,  as  a  memento  of  the  way  things  were 
done  in  the  early  days  of  our  state.  It  ought  to  be  men- 
tioned, as  a  recommendation  of  Mr.  Gillette  to  President 
Roosevelt,  that  he  is  the  father  of  ten  children,  nine  still 
living. 

Dwight-  Humphrey's  lilliputian  size  was  made  the 
more  striking  when  he  stood  by  the  side  of  his  tall  wife. 
They  had  no  children.  He  was  a  great  reader,  kept 
abreast  with  the  times  politically,  was  an  ardent  demo- 
crat, taking  THE  WEEKLY  TIMES,  which  I  often  bor- 
rowed of  him,  my  father's  paper  being  THE  WEEKLY 
CouRANT,  whose  semi-monthly  supplement  was  a  great 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


75 


boon  to  families,  filled  as  it  was  with  carefully  selected 
stories  and  much  other  good  reading  matter.  Mr.  Hum- 
phrey also  loaned  me  his  Congressional  Globe,  very  cap- 
tivating to  me,  as  it  gave  me  my  first  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  great  men  of  that  day,  Webster,  Clay, 
Calhoun,  Toombs,  Stephens,  Seward,  Giddings,  and  so 
on.  I  thought  then,  and  have  never  changed  my  mind, 
that  Webster  was  the  greatest  man  the  country  had  pro- 
duced. I  remember  how  I  had  hoped  he  would  be  nomi- 
nated for  president  in  1852,  and  how  grieved  we  students 
in  Williston  seminary  were  when,  in  the  autumn  of  1852, 
we  received  news  of  his  death,  hastened,  I  doubt  not, 
because  of  his  disappointment  in  not  receiving  that  nomi- 
nation. He  would  have  had  my  first  presidential  vote 
if  he  had  been  nominated;  as  it  was,  however,  I  did  not 
vote  for  General  Scott,  his  competitor,  being  away  from  . 
home  teaching  school,  and  waited  till  1856  to  cast  my 
first  presidential  vote  for  John  C.  Fremont.  Scott  car- 
ried but  two  or  three  states;  but,  apparently,  his  life  was 
not  shortened  by  his  defeat.  Such  a  result  evidently  hur- 
ried Horace  Greeley  into  his  grave.  His  defeat  was  fol- 
lowed by  his  death  after  election,  but  before  the  meeting 
of  the  presidential  electors.  His  case  was  pitiable,  in  that 
in  his  electioneering  tour  through  the  country  his  speeches 
in  the  east  were  high  tariff  in  character,  and  in  the  west 
low  tariff. 

The  Humphreys  in  Simsbury  and  Canton  have  never 
been  at  all  numerous;  but  the  name  has  been  exceptionally 
honored.  From  1776  to  1818,  when  our  state  constitu- 
tion was  adopted,  there  were  semi-annual  sessions  of  the 
legislature,  in  May  and  October,  representatives  being 
elected  to  each  separate  session.  'From  1776  to  1806, 
when  Canton  was  set  off  from  Simsbury,  there  were  sixty- 
two  sessions,  and  in  forty  of  them  there  was  from  Sims- 
bury  (mostly  from  the  west  part  of  it,  subsequently  set 
off  as  Canton),  at  least  one  Humphrey,  and  sometimes 


7  6  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

both  representatives  bore  that  name.  From  1806  to  1818 
there  were  twenty-four  sessions,  in  eleven  of  which  there 
was  an  Humphrey  from  Canton.  Since  1818  there  have 
been  seventy-eight  sessions,  in  thirteen  of  which,  one<- 
sixth  of  the  number,  there  has  been  an  Humphrey  from 
Canton.  This  is  a  record  of  which  those  who  bear  that 
name  may  well  be  proud.  The  three  Humphreys  in  the 
house  since  1818,  whom  I  have  not  already  mentioned, 
were  the  late  Alfred  F.  Humphrey  ('76),  his  son,  Fred- 
erick G.  ('oi),  and  Henry  ('05).  George  F.,  another 
son  of  Alfred,  was  in  the  house  from  Bloomfield,  in  '97. 
It  should  be  incidentally  stated  that  character  has  been 
the  test  in  selecting  candidates  for  representatives  in  that 
section  of  the  state.  I  have  never  heard  any  scandal 
connected  with  securing  nominations  or  elections,  in  the 
way  of  buying  votes  in  Canton. 

Alfred  and  Henry  were  brothers,  their  great-grand- 
father, Colonel  George  Humphrey,  born  in  1756,  died 
1813,  was  cousin  of  Deacon  Theophilus  Humphrey; 
their  grandfather  was  named  George,  born  1782,  died 
1836;  and  their  father  was  named  George,  born  1804. 
The  first  two  named  Georges  were  born  in  the  Canton 
part  of  Simsbury,  the  first  named  was  in  the  War  of  the 
Revolution;  the  last  named  George  was  born  in  New 
Hartford.  The  name  George  Humphrey  was  several 
times  represented  in  the  legislature,  from  West  Simsbury. 
Alfred  married  Mrs.  Lydia  A.  Mills,  who  had  been  pre- 
viously married,  she  being  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Chauncey 
G.  Griswold  and  Ruth  Mills,  sister  of  Ephraim  and 
Simeon  Mills;  and  Henry  married  Calcic  A.  Mills,  both 
of  whom  are  living,  she  being  the  daughter  of  Elizur, 
and  granddaughter  of  Simeon.  [Calcic  diet!  Apr.  19, 
1908.]  Alfred's  widow,  an  octogenarian,  is  happily 
spending  the  evening  of  her  long  and  useful  life  in  the 
family  of  her  son-in-law  and  daughter,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
George  W.  Lamphier,  Jr.,  residing  in  the  only  stone 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  77 

dwelling-house  In  all  that  section,  built  by  the  late  Volney 
G.  Barbour,  of  granite,  blasted  out  of  a  near-by  quarry 
by  his  brother,  Linus  Barbour. 

I  wish  in  this  connection  to  speak  of  this  man  Linus. 
He  was  a  well-known  man  in  all  that  region,  and  univer- 
sally respected.  He  never  married,  was  (like  his  brother, 
Jesse,  of  whom  I  have  particularly  spoken  on  page 
31)  a  democrat,  a  great  reader,  an  able  debater,  though 
he  had  some  impediment  in  his  speech.  Some  sixty- 
five  years  ago  he  proposed  that,  shade  trees  should  be 
set  out  along  the  highway,  north  of  the  church'  at  the 
Center,  and  succeeded  in  enlisting  others  in  the  scheme, 
which  was  carried  out,  and  those  trees  today  are  a  me- 
mento of  that  good  man's  influence  and  work  in  a  com- 
mendable enterprise.  For  a  time  he  carried  on  the  only 
grist  mill  at  the  Center,  and,  as  a  boy,  I  sometimes  visited 
him  in  connection  with  my  father's  patronage  of  the  mill. 
My  father  used  to  say  that,  of  all  men,  a  miller  should 
be  an  honest  man,  because  there  iwere  in  the  business 
opportunities  to  practice  dishonesty.  The  compensation 
for  grinding  grain  was  in  the  form  of  toll,  a  certain  quan- 
tity taken  out  of  a  bushel,  prescribed  by  the  law  of  the 
state.  Dishonesty,  not  often  easily  proved,  could  be  prac- 
ticed by  mixing  in  grain  of  the  same  kind  and  of  inferior 
quality.  Then,  too,  it  might  not  be  noticed  by  the  patrons 
of  the  mill,  if  the  toll  taken  out  was  a  little  in  excess  of 
what  was  legal.  In  the  latter  particular  there  was  some- 
times pleasantry  indulged  in  at  a  miller's  expense,  namely, 
that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  kept  the  grist  and  sent  back 
the  toll.  No  suspicion  of  that  sort  ever  attached  to  Linus, 
for  he  was  honesty  personified.  In  the  last  years  of  his 
life  he  resided  in  Ansonia,  and  died  and  was  buried  there, 
in  an  unmarked  grave.  While  I  resided  there,  some 
twenty  years  after  his  death,  I  witnessed  the  disinterring 
of  his  remains,  which  his  sisters,  Mrs.  Russell  Bristol  and 
Mrs.  Selden  White,  caused  to  be  transferred  to  the  Can- 


7  8  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

ton  Center  burying-ground,  where  are  buried  many  of 
the  family  connections.  It  was  not  easy  to  make  a  mis- 
take in  the  .removal  of  those  bones,  for  he  was  a  very  tall 
man,  and  the  undecayed  auburn  hair  was  a  further  proof 
of  identity.  So  tall  was  Linus  that  there  was  a  saying 
in  reference  to  tall  people,  "  As  tall  as  Linus,"  *and  it 
would  have  been  equally  appropriate,  in  speaking  of  up- 
right men,  to  have  said,  "  Honest  as  Linus."  I  was 
informed  that  his  death  may  have  been  hastened  by  an 
operation  to  help  his  impediment  of  speech,  performed 
in  New  York. 

DEATH  OF  PRESIDENT  SEARS. 

Since  the  first  part  of  this  article  was  written,  includ- 
ing the  incidental  reference  to  the  Collins  company,  Presi- 
dent Sears  has  died.  While  writing  that  part  I  had  not 
heard  of  his  serious  illness,  and  thought  of  him  as  likely 
to  live  many  years,' and  was  even  then  thinking  of  him,  as 
I  often  had  before,  as  an  ideal  man  for  governor  of  the 
state,  so  graceful  in  bearing,  so  successful  had  he  been 
in  governing  a  most  important  private  corporation.  As 
what  I  thus  wrote  was  the  dictate  of  my  sober  judgment, 
and  no  way  sentimental,  I  hope  it  will  not  seem  indeli- 
cate to  let  it  appear  as  .thus  written.  And,  in  the  same 
unimpass'ioned  manner,  I  wish  to  add  that,  in  his  death, 
Canton  has  received  a  shock,  and  suffered  a  loss  from 
which  it  will  not  soon  recover.  Men  die,  corporations 
live  on,  and  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  wise  men  at  the  head 
of  that  company  will  be  guided  in  the  selection  of  a  worthy 
successor  'of  the  good  man,  whose  death  we  all  sincerely 

mourn. 

S.  B. 
Hartford,  February  14,  1907. 

[The  position  was  well  filled  by  the  promotion  of  Mr. 
Wm.  Hill.  Mr.  Charles  H.  Smith  is  the  very  efficient 
superintendent,  and  Mr.  Frederick  J.  Hough,  the  assistant 
superintendent.] 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCEN'CES  79 


NOTE. 

• 

In  the  foregoing  newspaper  sketch  of  the  Humphrey  families, 
there  is  no  mention  made  of  a  fourth  son  of  Captain  Loin  Humph- 
rey, of  Canton,  namely,  Hosea  Dayton  Humphrey,  who  was 
born  in  Canton,  August  3,  1809,  and  who  graduated  from  Am- 
herst  College.  I  must  have  heard  in  my  boyhood  of  so  prominent 
a  man  as  he  was,  but,  if  I  did,  I  had  forgotten  it.  This  is  per- 
haps explained  by  the  fact,  that  he  left  town  for  the  west,  about 
the  time  of  my  birth.  In  that  sketch  I  mentioned  that  Theophi- 
lus  Humphrey,  the  father  of  Capt.  Loin  (Loin  married  Rhoda, 
daughter  of  Hosea  Case),  had  eleven  children.  As  a  coincidence, 
I  now  mention  that  Capt.  Loin  had  eleven  children,  who  were 
Loin  Harmon,  Austin  N.,  Eunice,  Hosea  E.  (died  at  the  age 
of  three  years),  Hosea  Dayton,  Warren  C.,  R.  Florinda,  Sarah  E., 
Susan  M.,  an  infant  (died  at  birth),  and  Eliza  L. 

In  going  west,  Hosea  Dayton  is  said  to  have  ridden  to  Ohio 
on  horseback.  He  read  law  in  the  office  of  Henry  Starr,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, a.nd  then  located  for  the  practice  of  law  in  Crawfords- 
ville,  Ind.,  in  1832.  Wabash  College  was  established  there  in 
1834,  and  he  became  a  member  of  its  faculty,  being  appointed 
professor  of  mathematics,  the  duties  of  which  appointment  he 
performed  in  connection  with  the  practice  of  law,  until  the  time 
of  his  death,  September  18,  1845.  On  September  23,  1835,  at 
Warren,  Conn.,  he  was  married  to  Caroline  Starr,  daughter  of 
George  Starr  of  Warren,  Conn.,  a  brother  of  Henry.  She  was 
born  July  8,  1811.  There  were  born  to  them  six  children,  all 
in  Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  namely,  Henry,  George  Starr,  Frank 
Warren,  Austin  R.,  Flora,  and  Hosea  Dayton,  Jr.,  the  last  named 
on  January  18,  1846.  Henry  is  living  in  Medford,  Oregon 
(served  through  the  Civil  War)  ;  George  is  a  retired  farmer, 
living  in  Washington,  Conn,  (in  the  House  in  1871);  Frank 
was  in  the  war  from  Illinois,  was  under  Gen.  Grant  in  his  cam- 
paign on  the  Mississippi  River,  was  mortally  wounded,  while 
aboard  gunboat  Switzerland,  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  and  died 
June  7,  1863;  Austin  served  in  the  war,  is  a  farmer,  residing  in 
Warren,  Conn,  (in  the  House  in  1876)  ;  Flora  died  in  New 


8o  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

Orleans,  La.,  in  May,  1863.  Upon  the  death  of  the  father  of 
these  children,  his  widow  came  to  Warren,  Conn.,  with  the  chil- 
dren, to  live  with  her  father.  She  died  in  1853. 

H.  DAYTON  HUMPHREY,  JR. 

This  gentleman  is  a  man  of  affable  manners,  and  genial  dis- 
position. He  came  to  New  Britain  May  7,  1863,  and  has  since 
resided  there,  where  he  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  most 
highly  respected  inhabitants,  and  has  had  much  to  do  in  pro- 
moting the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  town.  He  was  in  the 
dry  goods  business  there  for  years,  and  for  a  few  years  past  has 
conducted  a  large  real  estate  and  insurance  business,  being  the 
leading  man  there  in  that  business.  He  is  a  member  of  the  society 
committee  of  the  South  Congregational  Church  of  New  Britain  ; 
one  of  the  trustees  of  "  Erwin  Home,"  an  institution  for  old 
ladies;  chairman  of  the  New  Britain  water  board,  a  branch  of 
the  city  government,  his  position  and  duties  corresponding  to  those 
of  the  president  of  the  board  of  water  commissioners  of  Hartford ; 
and  he  holds  other  important  offices,  and  would  hold  more  if  he 
would  consent  to  take  them.  He  has  had  very  much  to  do  with 
acquiring  water  rights  and  privileges;  and  the  soundness  of  his 
judgment  in  all  business,  church  and  social  affairs  has  been  demon- 
strated. 

On  October  4,  1871,  Mr.  Humphrey  was  married  to  Miss 
Harriet  Loomis,  of  New  Britain.  They  have  a  delightful  home, 
his  family  consisting  of  his  wife,  an  unmarried  son,  Howard 
Starr,  who  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1897,  and  is  now  a 
member  of  the  Parker  Shirt  Company,  of  New  Britain,  and  a 
daughter,  Miss  Flora  Loomis,  who  is  a  graduate  of  Wellesley 
College. 

Mr.  Humphrey  has  shown  me  a  large,  beautiful  mahogany 
sideboard,  known  to  be  at  least  125  years  old,  and  that  belonged 
to  his  grandmother  Starr,  who  pointed  out  to  him  the  apartment 
in  it,  in  which  she  told  him  the  flip  was  kept,  to  be  served  to 
ministers.  It  is  a  matter  of  authentic  history,  that  in  early  days 
clergymen  openly  partook  of  stimulating  drinks  the  same  as  other 
people,  presumably,  we  may  suppose,  a  pure  article,  and  in  mod- 
eration. He  also  showed  me  a  unique  paper,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  a  copy: 


H.  DAYTON  HUMPHREY,  NEW  BRITAIN,  CONN. 
His  paternal  ancestors  were  natives  of  Canton. 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  gl 

"FUNERAL        INVITATION. 

"  Yourself  and  Family  are  respectfully  invited  to  attend  the 
Funeral  of  HOSEA  D.  HUMPHREYS  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Ben  T.  Ristine,  Esq.,  this  afternoon  at  3  o'clock.  Sep- 
tember 20,  1846." 

(In  former  days  the  letter  s  was  generally  added  to  the  name 
Humphrey.) 

At  first  blush,  it  seems  queer  to  send  cards  of  invitation  to  a 
funeral;  but,  really,  why  is  it  not  as  appropriate  for  one  to  select 
one's  guests  when  one  buries  a  dead  friend,  as  to  select  one's  guests 
for  a  reception  in  honor  of  a  living  friend? 

Mrs.  Humphrey  and  her  daughter  are  zealous  members  of 
the  local  chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution. 
The  latter'^  eligibility  for  membership  is  at  least  trebly  fortified, 
for  three  of  her  father's  great  grandfathers,  Theophilus  Humphrey, 
Hosea  Case,  and  Elisha  Cornish,  were  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Mr.  Humphrey  is  proud  of  the  family  name,  and,  as  remarked 
in  the  sketch  to  which  this  is  a  supplement,  the  great  respecta- 
bility of  those  who  have  borne  the  name,  fully  justifies  such  a 
feeling. 

S.  B. 


[  HARTFORD  TIMES,  April  30, 


ACTIVE  AT  79. 


DR.   EDWARD   HITCHCOCK,    PROFESSOR   OF   PHYSICAL 

CULTURE  AT  AMHERST  —  JUDGE  BARBOUR 

REMINISCENT. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Times : 

Accompanied  by  his  picture,  there  appears  in  the  last 
Outlook  a  very  interesting  article  on  a  widely  known  man, 
Edward  Hitchcock,  M.D.,  professor  of  physical  culture 
in  Amherst  college.  In  1859  tnat  college  created  a 
department  of  physical  education  and  hygiene,  which  was 
an  experiment  in  college  training.  Years  afterward  Presi- 
dent Eliot  of  Harvard  university  said :  "  It  is  to  Amherst 
college  that  the  colleges  of  the  country  are  indebted  for  a 
demonstration  of  the  proper  mode  of  organizing  the  de- 
partment of  physical  culture."  Dr.  J.  W.  Hooker  of 
New  Haven,  a  recent  graduate  of  Yale  college  and  Medi- 
cal school,  was  the  first  incumbent  of  the  chair,  but,  owing 
to  his  failing  health  and  death  a  few  months  later,  Dr. 
Hitchcock  was  called  to  the  position,  and  has  filled  it  ever 
since,  nearly  one-half  century.  There  are  said  to  be  more 
than  4,000  men  now  living,  who  have  received  benefit  from 
his  instruction.  I  imagine  that  not  a  few  of  your  many 
thousand  readers  are  among  that  number,  and  that  such 
of  them  as  are  not  readers  of  the  Outlook  will  be  interested 
in  seeing  his  likeness  in  your  paper.  The  author  of  that 
article,  a  former  pupil  of  the  doctor,  says:  "  Every  one 
of  them  [his  pupils]  he  has  known  by  name;  more  than 
that,  he  has  known  each  man's  chest  expansion,  and  his 
'  pull-up,'  and  some  forty  other  listed  and  intimate  physical 
details,  and  has  rejoiced  with  him  over  every  least  show- 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  83 

ing  of  gain."  His  pupils  knew  him  as  "  Old  Doc,"  and 
loved  him  greatly,  so  familiar  with  them  and  so  interested 
in  them  was  he. 

The  doctor's  father  was  for  years  president  of  Amherst 
college,  and,  by  his  book,  entitled  "  Religion  of  Geology," 
issued  more  than  a  half  century  ago,  did  much  to  disprove 
the  common  belief  that  the  world  was  created  in  six 
natural  days.  He  showed  that  the  earth's  strata  dem- 
onstrated that  the  work  of  creation  extended  over  many 
centuries.- 

It  was  my  great  privilege  to  intimately  know  Dr. 
Hitchcock  as  an  instructor  in  Williston  seminary  before  he 
became  professor  at  Amherst  college,  and  to  have  as  class- 
mates his  brother,  Charles,  and  Cyrus  Northrop,  now 
president  of  the  Minnesota  university.  I  sat  at  the  same 
table  with  the  latter  in  a  boarding  club,  the  late  William 
S.  Goslee  of  Glastonbury  being  also  a  member  of  that 
club.  Forty  years  afterward,  in  1891,  I  met  the  doctor 
for  the  first  time,  and  reminded  him  that  I  recited  to  him 
in  Williston  seminary,  as  did  a  certain  young  lady,  a 
classmate,  whom  he  afterward  married,  as  I  had  heard, 
and  I  inquired  if  she  was  still  living.  In  his  quick,  quaint 
way  he  replied:  "She  was  when  I  left  home  this 
morning."  The  article  I  refer  to  illustrates  his  comical 
way  of  speaking.  On  a  commencement  day,  when  former 
graduates  were  greeting  the  doctor,  one  of  them  said  to 
him:  "  Guess  you  don't  remember  me,  '  Old  Doc.'  I'm 
Jones  of  'sixty-blank;  got  a  boy  in  college  now."  Quick 
as  a  flash  came  the  reply:  "  He's  a  good  boy,  Jones,  a 
good  boy;  better  deportment  than  his  father  had,  but  I'm 
glad  to  see  ye." 

Many  an  amusing  story  is  told  of  the  doctor's  catch- 
ing boys  at  their  pranks.  For  instance,  a  Hartford 
graduate,  a  lawyer,  an  ex-judge,  who  was  a  student  at  the 
college,  tells  me  of  one  occasion  when  some  of  the  students 
were  out  at  night  on  "  a  lark,"  the  attorney  one  of  them  I 


84  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

will  suppose;  and  the  sentinel  of  the  party  called  out: 
"Boys,  run!  Hitch  is  coming."  The  first  time  I  ever 
saw  Dr.  Lamson  (afterward  pastor  of  the  Center  church 
in  Hartford)  was  at  the  semi-centennial  of  Williston 
seminary,  he  being  the  orator  of  the  day.  He  told  of  a 
scrape  he  was  in  at  the  seminary  when  a  student  there. 
The  boys  were  out  at  night,  helping  themselves  to  tempt- 
ing fruit,  and  the  sentinel  of  the  occasion  sounded  the 
alarm,  that  "  Old  Hitch "  was  coming.  The  orator 
turned  about  to  the  doctor  sitting  on  the  stage,  and,  with 
one  of  his  happy  smiles  on  his  face,  said:  '  That's  a  true 
story,  Doc,"  whereat  the  audience  cheered  loudly. 

The  doctor  is  almost  80  years  old,  still  wiry  and  alert, 
with  snow-white  hair,  and  a  splendid  example  of  what 
physical  culture  can  do  for  a  person.  He  fitted  for  college 
at  the  Amherst  academy  and  Williston  seminary,  gradu- 
ated at  Amherst  college  and  the  Harvard  Medical  school, 
having  as  a  classmate  in  college  Julius  H.  Seelye,  after- 
ward president  of  Amherst  college,  and  a  member  of 
congress  one  term,  having  the  distinction  of  spending  only 
3  cents  as  a  candidate,  for  a  postage  stamp,  used,  I 
presume,  in  notifying  the  committee  of  his  acceptance  of 
the  nomination.  S.  B. 

Hartford,  April  29,   1907. 

[The  Doctor  was  born  at  Amherst,  Mass.,  May  23, 
1828,  is  still  in  the  harness,  and  joyously  celebrated  his 
eightieth  birthday]. 


DR.   EDWARD  HITCHCOCK  ROLLIN  O.   HUMPHREY 

Born  May  23,  1828.  Born  August  16,  1827. 

Classmates,  Williston  Seminary,  1844. 


DR.   CHAUNCEY  G.   GRISWOLD. 
Born  Sept.  10,  1792.     Died  Dec.  26,  1864. 


Uncle  and  Niece. 


MRS.  R.   O.   HUMPHREY. 
Born  May  14,  1840. 


[  HAKTKOKU  TIMES,  Nov.  30,  1907.] 


NINETY-THIRD  ANNIVERSARY. 


SKETCH  OF  MRS.   RUTH  WILLIAMS,  WHO  OBSERVED 
HER  BIRTHDAY  TODAY  AT  HOME  OF  NIECES. 


To  the  Editor  of  THE  TIMES  : 

On  November  30,  1814,  Ruth  Case,  now  Mrs.  Ruth 
Williams,  was  born  in  Canton,  the  town  of  my  own  na- 
tivity, and  today  she  celebrated  her  93d  birthday.  Provi- 
dence having  thus  lengthened  out  her  life,  there  come 
to  my  mind  the  touching  words  of  Daniel  Webster,  spoken 
at  Bunker  Hill  in  an  address  to  surviving  soldiers  of  the 
American  Revolution,  just  fifty  years  after  the  battle 
fought  on  that  historic  spot:  "Venerable  men!  You 
have  come  down  to  us  from  a  former  generation;  heaven 
has  bounteously  lengthened  out  your  lives  that  you  might 
behold  this  joyous  day!"  Substituting  "woman"  for 
"  men  "  and  "  life  "  for  "  lives,"  the  words  may  be  used 
fittingly  on  this  interesting  anniversary  occasion  as  an 
affectionate  salutation  to  this  venerable  woman;  and,  con- 
sidering the  great  contrast  between  the  world  as  it  was  at 
her  birth  and  the  world  as  she  views  it  today,  I  might 
appropriately  add  to  that  salutation  these  words,  quoted 
from  that  address:  "Behold  how  altered!  The  same 
heavens  are  indeed  over  your  head(s)  .  .  .  but  all 
else  how  changed !  "  Wonderful,  indeed,  has  been  the 
change  and  the  advance  in  the  world  during  the  life  of 
this  aged  woman,  and  she  realizes  it  all.  Her  mind  is 
bright  and  her  memory  clear,  and  she  retains  the  spright- 
liness  of  the  average  woman  of  three-score-and-ten  years. 
It  has  been  my  privilege  during  the  last  few  months  to 
spend  an  occasional  hour  with  her,  listening  to  her  ani- 


86  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

mated,  crisp,  instructive  conversation  about  old-time  mat- 
ters. She  now  resides  in  Hartford,  happily  spending  the 
evening  of  her  active  life  in  the  families  of  her  affectionate 
nieces,  children  of  her  brother  Jared  and  his  wife,  Lydia 
(Emmons),  born  June  28,  1819,  who  were  married  No- 
vember 29,  1848,  namely,  Mrs.  Georgia  A.,  wife  of 
Henry  P.  Smith,  and  Mrs.  Edna  L.,  wife  of  William  R. 
Reid,  at  No.  48  Oak  street. 

Mrs.  Williams  was  one  of  the  very  numerous  Cases  in 
Canton,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Robert  Case  (born  June 
17,  1779,  died  November  19,  1861),  and  Clarissa  Case 
(born  July  15,  1784,  died  October  31,  1827),  who  were 
married  March  28,  1804,  their  children  being  Robert 
(born  December  22,  1804,  died  March  18,  1852),  Am- 
brose (born  June  11,  1806,  died  April  26,  1883),  Pluma 
(born  April  8,  1808,  died  February  6,  1886),  Clarissa 
(born  January  5,  1810,  died  February  13,  1877),  Tem- 
perance (born  May  29,  1812,  died  May  i,  1818),  Ruth 
(born  November  30,  1814),  Jared  (born  July  9,  1817, 
died  February  16,  1866),  Walter  (born  December  3, 
1819  (time  and  place  of  death  unknown),  Louisa  (born 
April  2,  1882,  died  October  18,  1828),  Savilla  (born 
December  12,  1824,  died  August  12,  1902).  By  the 
father's  second  marriage  there  was  a  half-brother,  Sidney 
(born  April  5,  1830,  died  August  19,  1902).  Of  the 
eleven  children  Mrs.  Williams  alone  survives,  a  circum- 
stance sadly  impressive  to  the  sole  survivor  of  a  large 
family,  as  I  can  testify  from  personal  experience. 

Mrs.  Williams's  father's  father's  name  was  Simeon, 
her  mother's  father's  name  was  Darius.  Her  mother  was 
a  sister  of  Anson  Case  (born  in  1791),  long  prominent 
in  Canton;  her  father  was  a  brother  of  the  father  of 
Chester  Case  (who  lately  died  at  the  age  of  95)  ;  she  is 
therefore  cousin  of  Chester,  as  she  is  of  Chester's  brother 
Joseph,  and  is  also  cousin  of  the  three  brothers,  Everett 
Case  (who  lately  died  at  the  age  of  94),  the  late  Hon. 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES  87 

Norton  Case  (father  of  Dr.  Erastus  E.  Case),  and  Orrin 
Case,  now  living  in  Granby.  Mrs.  Williams's  father  was 
a  cousin  of  Ruggles  Case,  longtime  and  widely  patronized 
blacksmith  in  North  Canton,  and  staunch  democrat  of 
the  old  school.  There  are  still  living  three  children  of 
Ruggles  Case's  large  family,  namely,  Edmund  in  Hart- 
ford, Henry  in  California,  and  Sarah  (my  pupil),  the 
widow  of  Horace  Vining,  living  in  North  Canton,  in  the 
family  of  her  daughter,  wife  of  Henry  Adams,  the  much- 
respected  grandson  of  General  Ezra  Adams,  prominent  in 
that  community  a  century  ago.  There  are  many  very  re- 
spectable descendants  of  the  general,  among  whom  is  his 
grandson,  George  Jarvis  Case,  of  Canton,  well  known  to 
all  of  your  readers  as  having  much  to  do  with  the  weather, 
not,  however,  in  the  business  of  regulating  and  forecasting 
the  weather,  a  work  so  damaging  to  the  reputation  of  a 
man  for  wisdom,  but  in  recording  and  reporting  it,  as, 
day  by  day,  and  night  by  night,  it  puts  in  its  appearance. 
One  of  the  general's  sons,  Henry,  became  my  greatly 
esteemed  uncle  by  his  marriage  to  my  father's  sister.  Mrs. 
Williams's  aunt  Elizabeth  married  Reuben  Russell,  who 
with  his  family  and  household  effects  moved  to  Ohio, 
locating  in  that  part  of  it  called  New  Connecticut,  making 
the  entire  journey  in  his  wagon,  behind  which  he  led  his 
cow.  This  occurred  when  Mrs.  Williams  was  a  small 
child,  and  she  vividly  remembers  witnessing  the  good-by 
partings  and  the  departure  of  the  emigrants.  The  aunt 
died  out  there  in  1850,  aged  63  years. 

Intermarriages  between  the  Cases  in  Canton  have  been 
common,  but  I  have  never  seen  any  evidence  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  human  race  suffering  any  degeneracy  in  con- 
sequence. In  general  thrift  and  respectability  they  have 
not  been  surpassed  in  that  community.  Eliminate  the 
Cases  from  that  town,  and  it  would  not  rank  where  it  now 
does. 

In  her  early  life  Mrs.  Williams  taught  school  in  dif- 


88  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

ferent  districts  in  that  region,  holding  sessions  every  other 
Saturday,  as  was  then  the  custom,  boarding  around,  and 
receiving  the  uniform  wages  of  one  dollar  a  week.  It 
was  my  pleasure  afterward,  in  1852,  to  have  as  a  pupil 
in  a  school  in  North  Canton  one  of  her  scholars,  Everett 
Case's  daughter,  Antoinette,  now  the  widow  of  George 
Weed,  who  was  also  my  pupil,  as  was  his  sister  Martha 
Weed,  now  living  with  her  brother  James  in  North  Can- 
ton. That  pay  for  a  teacher  now  seems  small,  though  it 
was  then  common  for  female  teachers  in  district  schools; 
and  three  times  that  sum  was  considered  good  pay  for 
male  beginners,  as  I  can  testify  from  personal  experience. 
If  the  latter  pay  was  adequate,  in  my  judgment  the  former 
was  not,  for  in  teaching  quality  there  is  not,  as  a  general 
rule,  that  difference,  if  any,  between  the  sexes.  I  suppose 
the  theory  is  that  man  surpasses  woman  in  discipline, 
though,  judging  from  my  observation,  I  am  not  sure  of  the 
soundness  of  the  theory;  but,  be  that  as  it  may,  consider- 
ing the  mettle  Mrs.  Williams  exhibits,  I  will  wager  a  guess 
that  she  was  in  no  wise  deficient  in  government.  I  don't 
know  when  the  practice  began  of  having  school  sessions 
every  other  Saturday,  or,  perhaps,  I  should  rather  say, 
of  allowing  to  teachers  and  scholars  the  fortnightly  Satur- 
day holiday.  There  was  no  statute  for  it.  Mrs.  Lydia 
Griswold  Humphrey  (widow  of  Alfred  F.),  who  has  re- 
cently celebrated  her  eighty-second  birthday,  tells  me  that 
in  her  early  teaching  in  Wethersfield,  she  was  given  the 
option  of  teaching  every  other  Saturday,  or  a  half-day 
every  Saturday,  she,  however,  choosing  the  alternate  ar- 
rangement as  preferable  to  herself  and  scholars.  In  those 
days  it  was  the  common  practice  for  teacher  and  scholars 
to  join  in  reading  a  chapter  in  the  Bible  as  an  opening 
exercise.  I  know  there  is  now  an  almost  unanimous  opinion 
that  the  practice  is  objectionable,  though  I  don't  remem- 
ber to  have  heard  any  objection  to  it  then.  The  branches 
of  study  then  receiving  chief  attention  were  the  three 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  89 

R's,  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  and  the  two  G's, 
geography  and  grammar.  There  were,  too,  daily  oral 
spelling  exercises,  the  classes,  sometimes  large,  being  ar- 
rayed on  the  floor,  "  toeing  a  mark,"  the  member  mis- 
spelling a  word  being  displaced  by  the  first  one  down  the 
line  spelling  it  correctly.  There  was  great  strife  to  see 
who  would  "  get  to  the  head  "  most  times  during  the  term, 
a  reward  of  some  sort  being  sometimes  given  to  the  victor, 
but,  if  not,  the  glory  was  sufficient  pay.  The  book  of 
words  used  was  Webster's  "  Elementary  Spelling  Book," 
beginning  with  words  of  one  syllable,  and  ending  with 
those  of  seven  syllables,  every  one  of  which  selected  words 
should  be  in  the  vocabulary  of  every  cultivated  writer  and 
speaker.  The  tables  of  words  were  interspersed  with 
sentences  of  a  line  or  two,  happily  illustrating  the  meaning 
of  many  of  the  words.  Then  there  were  in  the  book  pages 
of  words,  arranged  in  pairs,  differently  spelled,  but  identi- 
cal in  pronunciation,  with  definitions  appended,  to  be 
learned  and  recited  by  the  scholars  in  like  manner;  and 
in  the  back  part  of  the  book  were  short  fables  and  accom- 
panying pictures,  moral  in  their  signification,  notable 
among  which  was  that  representing  the  pilfering  boy  in 
an  apple-tree,  looking  down  contemptuously  upon  the 
owner  standing  underneath,  whose  moral  suasion  being 
insultingly  disregarded,  as  a  final  argument,  missiles,  first 
pieces  of  turf,  then  stones,  were  resorted  to,  and  were 
said  to  have  brought  the  urchin  down  from  the  tree  and 
upon  his  knees,  begging  the  old  man's  pardon  —  the  book 
being  on  the  whole  of  priceless  value,  sufficient  to  have 
immortalized  Noah  Webster,  if  he  had  made  no  other 
contribution  to  literature.  I  recall  with  the  greatest  pleas- 
ure those  spirited  contests,  and  one  of  my  lamentations 
is  that  I  did  not  preserve  a  twenty-five  cent  book  thus 
won  one  four-months'  term,  when,  by  reason  of  the  num- 
ber of  good  spellers  in  the  class,  the  result  was  in  doubt 
until 'the  last  day.  The  book  disappeared  in  some  way, 


9o 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


as,  to  my  present  grief,  did  my  school  books,  the  spelling 
book,  Peter  Parley's  geography,  Smith's  grammar,  and 
Colburn's  Intellectual  arithmetic,  the  last  named  book 
being  properly  named  "  intellectual,"  the  solution  of  its 
problems  not  permitting  the  making  of  a  figure,  but  was 
wholly  oral,  sometimes  lengthy,  and  was  designed  and  cal- 
culated to  strengthen  the  intellect  by  unbroken  continuity 
of  thought,  a  mental  attainment  not  easy  to  achieve.  I 
didn't  realize  that  such  books  long  afterward  would  be 
prized  as  mementos  of  the  happiest  days  of  life.  In  good 
sense  I  was  unlike  my  schoolteacher  niece,  Miss  Lucy,  who 
can  show  most  of  her  school  books.  She  has  also  her 
father's  early  reading  book,  "  Easy  Lessons  in  Reading," 
containing  pleasing  and  instructive  fables  and  stories, 
edited  by  Joshua  Leavitt,  and  published  in  1823.  It  is 
illustrated  with  divers  wood  cuts,  which  are  amusing  in 
this  day  of  pictorial  art.  I  find  folded  in  the  book,  which 
had  been  loaned  to  Judge  David  S.  Calhoun,  a  letter 
written  by  him  years  ago,  expressing  his  great  pleasure  in 
having  had  "  the  opportunity  of  reading  it  once  more," 
the  inference  being  that  it  may  have  been  his  first  reading 
book.  Now  that  there  has  developed  such  a  taste  and 
craze  for  the  antique,  it  would  seem  probable  that  there 
will  not  hereafter  be  such  a  reprehensible  neglect  in  pre- 
serving the  educational  implements  of  childhood,  to  afford 
delight  in  the  period  of  old  age.  There  were  added  to 
the  spelling  by  classes  what  was  called  "  choosing-sides  " 
spelling  matches,  in  which  the  school  as  a  whole  par- 
ticipated, the  teacher  naming  leaders,  one  for  each  side, 
who  exhibited  their  estimate  of  the  relative  spelling  ability 
of  the  scholars,  as,  alternately,  they  chose  their  assistants, 
till  the  list  was  exhausted,  the  victory  being  given  to  the 
side  having  the  member  that  stood  up  longest.  So  much 
attention  given  to  spelling  exercises  helps  to  make  good 
spellers,  and  everybody,  who  ever  writes  a  letter  or  any- 
thing else,  knows  the  comfort  there  is  in  being  able  to 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  9! 

spell  correctly.  In  this  day  of  stenographers,  however,  it 
is  less  essential  to  the  business  man  than  formerly,  pro- 
vided the  stenographer  is  up  in  the  art,  as  is  probably 
generally  the  case. 

Mrs.  Williams  speaks  of  the  old  church  edifice  at  North 
Canton,  known  as  "  The  Independent  Meeting  House,"  it 
being  for  general  religious  services,  and  for  all  people 
regardless  of  sect,  though,  as  she  knew  it,  the  services  were 
Episcopal  in  form.  It  stood  about  one  mile  north  of  the 
schoolhouse,  on  the  corner  of  the  road  leading  to  Granby 
and  the  crossroad  therefrom,  to  the  road  going  to  Bark- 
hamsted.  In  a  historical  address  delivered  at  the  Cen- 
tennial Celebration,  Mr.  Sears  does  not  mention  it,  in  his 
enumeration  of  church  edifices  in  Canton,  though  of  its 
existence  there  is  no  question.  In  Phelps's  history  of 
Simsbury,  published  in  1845,  ^  'ls  stated 'that  it  was  built 
about  sixty  years  before  that  date,  namely,  1785,  and  that 
religious  services  having  ceased  to  be  maintained  in  it,  it 
was  taken  down  in  1842.  It  appears  to  have  been  the 
second  church  built  in  West  Simsbury,  now  Canton,  the 
first  was  that  at  the  center,  erected  in  1763,  taken  down 
in  1814,  and  succeeded  by  the  present  house  on  the  same 
site,  dedicated  in  1815. 

Mrs.  Williams  has  no  children.  She  was  married  to 
Alonzo  Williams,  a  widower,  with  children,  at  Pine 
Meadow,  New  Hartford,  February  27,  1855,  •  He  was 
born  May  28,  1804,  and  died  December  22,  1880.  His 
nephew,  Albert  (son  of  his  brother,  Douglas  Williams), 
was  born  in  New  Hartford,  December  22,  1828;  was  one 
of  a  family  of  ten  children;  in  1853  was  married  to  Helen 
M.  Graves  (born  in  Agawam,  Mass.,  April  14,  1834)  ; 
was  railroad  station  agent  at  Collinsville  for  twenty-five 
years,  from  March  17,  1857;  carried  on  the  coal  and  feed 
business  there  some  forty  years;  built  a  dwelling  house  in 
1867  on  the  site  of  an  old  house  long  occupied  by  Mr. 
Frisbie,  near  the  water  tank,  on  the  corner  of  River  road 


92  BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

and  Maple  avenue,  where  his  widow  now  resides.  He 
was  a  highly  respected  citizen,  for  years  a  deacon  and 
tireless  worker  in  the  Congregational  church  in  Collins- 
ville, and  died  October  15,  1906. 

That  old  Frisbie  house  was  a  familiar  landmark  to 
me,  when  sixty-six  years  ago,  as  a  lad  of  ten  years,  I  began 
to  drive  an  ox  team  to  Collinsville,  laden  with  the  produce 
of  my  father's  farm,  six  miles  distant  from  Collinsville. 
In  these  days  of  high  prices,  it  may  be  of  some  interest  to 
mention  that  that  year,  1841,  we  carried  to  Collinsville 
and  sold  over  400  bushels  of  potatoes  at  20  cents  a  bushel ; 
among  our  customers  were  Samuel  W.  Collins,  Charles 
Blair,  Ben  Wingate,  Sam  Barbour,  George  Lane,  Pliny 
Humphrey,  Samuel  Victor  Woodbridge,  Deacon  Horatio 
N.  Goodwin  and  the  father  of  Congressman  Simonds. 
My  father  sent  me  on  ahead,  following  later  with  the 
horse  team.  My  return  trip  was  not  on  foot  as  was 
the  down  trip,  but,  Barkis  like,  I  rode  perched  up  in 
the  front  end  of  the  cart.  It  was  always  after  nightfall,  the 
up-hill-and-down,  winding  road  being  dreary,  as  there  were 
no  electric  lights  on  it,  except  when  I  got  caught  in  a 
thunder  shower.  There  were  few  inhabitants  on  the  road, 
Case  families  preponderating.  How  my  heart  throbs,  as 
I  recall  those  toilsome,  thcfugh  happy  years  of  childhood, 
doing  what  I  could  to  assist  my  father,  always  burdened 
with  debt,  to  pay  interest  and  taxes,  and  support  and 
educate  a  family  of  nine  children !  But  I  thank  God  I 
was  permitted  to  have  just  that  strenuous  boyhood  and 
youth. 

Mrs.  Williams  takes  great  pride  in  her  family  relatives, 
having  a  carefully  kept  record  of  them,  which  she  is 
pleased  to  exhibit.  Of  her  brother  Robert's  children  there 
are  living  four,  Ansel  (born  December  17,  1826),  John 
Julia,  Ann  and  Martha.  Their  brother  Trumbull  (born 
January  15,  1831)  was  my  beloved  pupil,  my  senior  in 
age,  but  always  abundant  in  the  manifestation  of  the  re- 


EVERETT  CASE 
Born  March  14,  1812.    Died  Nov.  n,  1906. 

CHESTER   CASE 
Born  Oct.  9,  1811,  Died  June  9,  1907. 


MRS.   RUTH  CASE  WILLIAMS 

Born  Nov.  30,  1814.    Still  living,  in  good  health. 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


93 


spect  due  to  the  relationship  existing  between  us.  Within 
one  month  of  the  close  of  the  school  it  was  my  great 
sorrow  to  attend  the  funeral  of  himself  and  his  father, 
buried  in  one  grave,  the  father  having  died  March  18, 
1852,  and  the  son,  March  20.  Mrs.  Williams's  cousin 
Joseph's  son,  Wilbert  J.  Case  and  his  wife  Lucelia  (Wil- 
cox),  my  pupils,  now  reside  in  Hyde  Park,  Mass.  My 
admiration  of  that  young  man's  name  (resulting,  partly, 
perhaps,  from  his  lovable  character),  led  me  to  suggest 
his  name  for  a  nephew,  my  eldest  sister's  son,  born  that 
winter,  and  the  child  lived  to  be  proud  of  the  name,  as  are 
two  grandnephews  now  bearing  it. 

Mrs.  Williams's  brother,  Ambrose's  grandson,  Birds- 
eye  Erskine  Case  (born,  September  2,  1878),  a  practicing 
lawyer  in  Hartford,  distinguished  himself  in  Yale  Law 
school,  graduating  from  it  in  1906,  receiving  a  prize  of 
one  hundred  dollars,  and  delivering  the  Townsend  essay  on 
'  The  International  Police  Power  of  the  United  States  on 
the  American  Continent,"  an  address  in  which  he  forcibly 
and  ably  discussed  and  urge<d  the  duty  of  the  United  States 
to  exercise  that  power  over  the  South  American  republics, 
if  they  are  to  enjoy  the  benefits  they  receive  from  the  en- 
forcement of  the  Monroe  doctrine.  As  time  goes  on, 
the  urgency  of  the  exercise  of  that  power  over  those  mis- 
behaving, scrappy  republics  grows  more  apparent.  That 
was  not  the  only  prize  Birdseye  there  received  for  excel- 
lence in  legal  scholarship.  Birdseye  was  married  July  17, 
1906,  to  Louise  Marion  Sage  of  Collinsville.  Birdseye's 
mother,  Frances  (born  December  23,  1849,  died  January 
i,  1886),  was  the  daughter  of  Ambrose  Case;  his  father, 
Emerson  Case,  again  married,  now  resides  in  Avon. 

Mr.  Smith,  husband  of  the  niece  Georgia  A.,  above 
referred  to,  was  born  October  8,  1852,  in  New  Haven, 
Mrs.  Smith  in  North  Canton,  October  4,  1853,  and  they 
were  married  November  13,  1873,  in  Springfield,  Mass.; 
Mr.  Reid,  husband  of  Edna  L.,  was  born  in  Tariffville, 


94 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


March  4,  1848,  Mrs.  Reid  August  9,  1862,  in  North 
Canton,  and  they  were  married  in  Suffield  February  8, 
1883.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  have  no  children,  except  as 
they  playfully  claim  part  ownership  in  the  Reid  children, 
living  in  the  same  house,  and  for  whom  they  manifest 
parental  affection;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reid  having  eight  chil- 
dren, a  pleasing  group,  William  J.,  Lydia  E.,  Leslie  C., 
Henry  W.,  Savilla  J.,  Malvern  E.,  Stuart  I.,  and  Elton 
R.  William  has  been  in  the  Charter  Oak  National  bank 
of  Hartford  four  years,  having  been  promoted  step  by 
step  to  the  position  of  bookkeeper  at  present.  Lydia  is 
a  stenographer,  Leslie  in  the  high  school,  and  the  other 
children  in  district  schools.  The  Smith  and  Reid  families 
are  most  harmonious  and  delightful  in  their  association, 
and  are  enthusiastically  devoted  to  their  Aunt  Ruth.  She, 
however,  has  specially  adopted  Elton,  3^/2  years  old,  whom 
she  delights  to  call  her  child,  who  beautifully  reciprocates 
her  affection.  Mr.  Smith's  father,  Henry  A.  Smith,  a 
well-preserved  man,  will  be  80  February  16,  1908.  Mr. 
Reid  is  the  son  of  James  Reid  of  Simsbury.  Of  the 
children  of  Chester  Case,  five  are  living,  William,  Willis, 
Frederick,  Frank  and  Rachel.  Besides  Mrs.  Weed  and 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Case,  children  of  Everett  Case,  there  is  a 
daughter,  Lucia,  living  in  New  Britain. 

Mrs.  Williams's  husband  is  buriecl  in  the  old  cemetery 
in  North  Canton,  as  are  her  parents  and  many  other  rela- 
tives, where  she  expects  to  rest  by  the  side  of  her  husband 
till  the  resurrection  day.  She  makes  no  prediction  as  to 
the  period  of  time  she  will  sleep  in  that  sacred  ground. 
She  -is  willing  to  leave  that  all  to  her  Saviour,  assured  that 
in  His  own  good  time  she  will  come  forth  to  meet  Him. 
Who  will  say  that  such  faith  and  trust  are  not  most  beauti- 
ful? Religiously,  Mrs.  Williams  is  an  ardent  Second  Ad- 
ventist,  and  is  humbly,  trustingly  and  joyfully  looking  for- 
ward to  the  second  coming  of  her  Saviour  on  the  earth, 
when,  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  the  trumpet 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


95 


shall  sound  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  be  raised;  she 
being  a  firm  believer  in  the  tenet  held  by  the  church  of 
her  faith  "  that  death  is  a  condition  of  unconsciousness  to 
all  persons,  righteous  and  wicked,  a  condition  that  will 
remain  unchanged  until  the  resurrection  at  Christ's  second 
coming,  at  which  time  the  righteous  will  receive  everlast- 
ing life,  while  the  wicked  will  be  punished  with  ever- 
lasting destruction,  suffering  complete  extinction."  Mrs. 
Williams  retains  her  loving  interest  in  the  work  of  the 
church,  reading  its  literature  extensively,  having  been  a 
subscriber  to  the  "  World's  Crisis  "  from  the  beginning 
of  its  publication,  over  fifty  years,  and  to  the  "  Herald  of 
Life  "  more  than  twenty-five  years. 

The  Second  Adventist  church  came  into  great  prom- 
inence in  this  country  in  the  late  twenties  and  early  thirties 
of  the  last  century,  when  William  Miller,  a  plain  farmer, 
residing  in  New  York  state,  a  profound  student  of  pro- 
fane history,  a  disbeliever  in  a  revealed  religion,  became 
converted  to  Christianity,  and  espoused  the  Second  Ad- 
vent doctrine,  and  preached  it  extensively,  and  for  a  time, 
in  Hartford,  winning  many  converts  to  it,  who  were 
popularly  known  as  "  Millerites."  It  was  then,  and 
for  some  years  afterward,  the  belief  'of  those  good 
people,  that  the  coming  of  Christ  was  near  at  hand, 
and  days  were  successively  set  for  that  coming.  By 
this  prediction,  based  on  an  interpretation  of  the  Bible, 
a  sensation,  though  of  a  different  kind,  was  produced  in 
the  community,  as  extensive  as  occurred  a  little  earlier, 
when  William  Morgan  renounced  Masonry  and  pub- 
lished a  book  which  claimed  to  reveal  the  secrets  of  the 
Masonic  order.  He  mysteriously  disappeared  shortly 
afterward,  the  popular  .idea  being  that  his  disappearance 
was  due  to  foul  play,  occasioned  by  his  disclosures.  I  well 
remember  that  years  afterward  the  excitement  over  that 
disclosure  and  disappearance  continued,  and  distressed 
many  good  people  who  were  not  connected  with  the  order, 


96  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

and  were  prejudiced  against  it,  among  whom  was  my  own 
mother,  though  she  was  much  relieved  by  the  assurances 
of  her  Christian  son,  Heman,  a  Mason,  that  there  was  no 
inconsistency  between  the  principles  of  Masonry  and  those 
of  Christianity. 

The  Adventists  have  a  church  organization  in  Hart- 
fofd,  with  a  pleasant  house  of  worship  on  Foot  Guard 
place,  and  a  devout  membership,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson 
being  their  zealous  pastor.  Mr.  William  J.  Pierce,  a  man 
of  much  culture,  saintly  in  character,  and  of  venerable 
presence,  has  long  been  a  pillar  in  the  church,  having 
written  a  history  of  it.  Any  one,  liberally  inclined  in 
religious  matters,  must  admit  that  this  sect  finds  some  war- 
rant in  Scripture  for  its  tenet  concerning  the  future  con- 
dition of  the  dead,  as  what  sect  does  not  there  find  some 
warrant  for  its  peculiar  beliefs,  if  independent  passages  are 
relied  upon? 

With  the  condition  of  friendly  relations  now  existing 
between  the  different  religious  bodies,  no  harm  to  the  peace 
and  welfare  of  society  would  seem  likely  to  result  from  the 
existence  of  many  sects.  But,  to  our  amazement,  there 
has  not  always  been  this  fraternizing  spirit  manifested. 
Even  my  own  limited  memory  goes  back  to  a  different 
situation.  I  well  remember,  for  example,  how  Christians 
fjelieving  in  a  future  salvation  limited  to  those  dying  re- 
generate, regarded  with  distrust,  and  did  not  receive  into 
fellowship,  churches  of  the  Universalist  faith,  who  ap- 
parently find  no  warrant  in  Scripture  for  limiting  human 
repentance  and  divine  forgiveness  to  this  life,  and  urged 
in  opposition  to  them,  that  the  effect  of  a  belief  in  the 
doctrine  of  universal  salvation  was  to  encourage  a  life  of 
sin,  though  the  preachers  of  that. faith,  no  less  earnestly 
than  preachers  of  other  faiths,  proclaimed  the  duty  of  re- 
pentance and  holy  living,  and  the  importance  of  securing 
divine  forgiveness  here  and  now. 

Divide  as  we  may  religiously,  'twould  seem  that  all 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


97 


must  admit  that  the  Universalist  and  Advent  churches  in 
their  creeds  impliedly  pay  a  beautiful  tribute  to  Jehovah's 
mercy,  exercised  though  it  be  in  a  widely  different  manner, 
in  the  one  case  by  the  ultimate  salvation  of  all,  and  in 
the  other  by  the  extinction  of  the  wicked  from  the  moment 
of  death.  Let  no  one  be  shocked  at  the  last  part  of  this 
remark,  for,  if  there  were  such  an  alternative,  would  not 
extinction  be  preferable  to  an  eternity  of  unhappiness? 
If  it  were  permissible  to  apply  finite  reason  to  a  matter  of 
divine  arrangement,  not  made  so  clear  by  revelation  that 
there  should  be  no  difference  of  opinion  concerning  it, 
might  it  not  be  said,  most  reverently,  that  it  seems  im- 
probable, nay,  impossible  of  human  belief,  that  a  Being, 
of  whose  power  and  wisdom  we  have  such  proof  in  our- 
selves and  in  the  universe,  can  have  established  a  scheme 
of  creation,  involving  the  unending,  conscious  estrange- 
ment from  Himself  of  a  portion  of  His  creatures,  made 
in  His  own  image  ?  Unutterably  horrible !  such  a  sup- 
position, a  seeming  affront  to  the  benignity  of  a  God 
of  infinite  compassion!  It  must  have  been  just  that  con- 
dition of  soul  of  which  the  poet  speaks.  "Oh!  what 
eternal  horrors  hang  around  the  second  death !  "  Not 
a  cessation  of  life,  but  an  eternity  of  misery  —  a  living 
death  is  clearly  meant. 

In  further  proof  of  my  assertion  of  the  former  mani- 
festation of  an  un-Christian  spirit  between  different 
Christian  churches,  I  quote  from  the  words  of  Chief 
Justice  Swift,  in  his  "  System  of  the  Laws  of  Connecticut," 
published  in  1795  :  "  For  near  eighteen  centuries,  the  dif- 
ferent sects  of  Christians  have  been  quarreling  with  each 
other,  respecting  a  religion  which  recommends  brotherly 
love  as  the  most  essential  duty !  It  is  time  they  began  to 
practice  the  religion  they  profess.  They  ought  to  know, 
that  no  one  can  have  any  occasion  to  quarrel  about  it, 
because  every  one  has  a  right  to  think  as  he  pleases.  May 
we  not  hope  that  the  period  is  not  far  distant  when  man- 

7 


98  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

kind  will  have  sense  enough  to  discern  the  extreme  folly 
of  a  religious  quarrel?"  No  wonder  that  broadminded 
Christian  jurist  was  shocked  and  indignant  over  the 
quarrels  of  which  he  speaks;  quarrels  mainly  over  non- 
essentials,  such  as  nice  distinctions  of  theology,  evolved 
by  the  different  schools,  and  not  material  to  man's  moral 
well-being;  quarrels  in  which  the  disputants  forgot  to 
exercise  that  charity  which  St.  Paul  so  beautifully  portrays 
and  enjoins;  quarrels  in  which  the  participants  usurped 
the  prerogative  of  the  Judge  on  high,  and  undertook  to 
pass  judgment  on  each  other !  With  what  greater  amaze- 
ment and  grief  the  Master  himself  must  have  looked  down 
on  that  spectacle ! 

In  this  era  of  such  a  beautiful  exhibition  of  Christian 
charity,  a  humble  layman  might  be  permitted  to  inquire, 
why  not  let  it  have  one  other  manifestation,  namely,  in 
an  interchange  of  pulpit  service  between  the  robed  and  un- 
robed clergy,  such  as  there  is  now  between  members  of  the 
latter  class  ?  I  have  never  known  such  an  exchange.  And, 
please,  why  not  here  in  Hartford  let  the  courtesy  go  one 
step  further,  by  inviting  Rabbi  Elkin  into  Christian  pul- 
pits? He  has  been  heard  once  in  a  Congregational  church, 
and  his  reported  utterances,  though  a  Jew,  recognized  and 
honored  Christ  and  breathed  His  spirit.  The  failure  to 
make  such  exchanges  is  not  due  to  any  lack  of  mutual  re- 
gard of  the  clergy,  nor  to  any  probable  opposition  of  their 
congregations.  How  passing  strange!  these  separations, 
the  result  wholly  of  man-made  regulations,  how  out  of 
harmony  with  the  sentiment  of  the  hymn,  "  Blest  Be  the 
Tie,"  etc.,  sung  in  all  worshipping  congregations,  with 
emphasis  on  "  fellowship !  "  Such  interchanges  would 
tend  to  still  further  unify  believers,  who  in  heart  and 
purpose  are  one. 

Something  of  a  sensation  has  been  produced  by  Dr. 
Parker's  praiseworthy  suggestion  of  a  church,  to  be  made 
up  of  all  souls  who  love  and  strive  to  serve  the  Lord,  to 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


99 


be  received  into  membership,  in  the  observance  or  non- 
observance  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  according  to  the 
dictates  of  each  member's  conscience.  Would  not  the 
carrying  out  in  practice  of  this  suggestion  bring  the  world 
one  step  nearer  the  millennium?  Most  sincerely  do  I 
thank  the  doctor  for  thus  leading  the  way  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  church,  to  which  all  may  be  admitted  who  give 
evidence  that  it  is  their  ruling  purpose  and  constant  effort 
to  live  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  as  they 
understand  them;  and  I  wish  he  might  have  the  support 
of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  in  carrying  out  that  scheme. 
That's  all  that's  needed  to  make  it  a  success;  the  people 
will  welcome  it,  I  verily  believe. 

GREETINGS  TO  MRS.  WILLIAMS. 
Should  any  persons  be  inclined  to  call  to-morrow, 
Sunday,  forenoon  or  afternoon,  to  pay  their  respects  to 
Mrs.  Williams,  I  am  authorized  to  say  that  such  calls 
will  be  pleasing  to  her,  and  that  the  families  with  whom 
she  is  living  will  greatly  appreciate  such  a  compliment  to 
her.  Will  not  heaven  be  pleased  with  such  a  use  of  a  few 
minutes  of  holy  time,  and  with  such  an  exhibition  of  af- 
fection to  this  mother  in  Israel?  I  feel  that  I  myself 
cannot  more  appropriately  spend  the  Sabbath  than  by  my 
presence  on  the  occasion,  to  assist  in  it  as  I  may  be  able. 
Cars  on  Capitol  avenue,  Lafayette  street,  Park  street  and 
Zion  street,  pass  within  a  few  steps  of  No.  48  Oak  street. 

S.  B. 
HARTFORD,  November  30,  1907. 


[HARTFORD  TIMES,  Dec.  2,  1907.] 


HAD  MANY  CALLERS. 


CONGRATULATIONS  FOR  MRS.  RUTH  WILLIAMS  ON  930 

BIRTHDAY. 


To  the  Editor  of  THE  TIMES: 

Mrs.  Ruth  Williams,  of  whose  history  I  wrote  you 
at  length  on  Saturday,  pleasantly  passed  her  93d  birth- 
day anniversary  on  that  day,  at  her  home,  No.  48  Oak 
street,  Hartford,  receiving  calls  and  what  the  letter  carrier 
was  pleased  to  style,  "  bushels  of  letters  for  Aunt  Ruth," 
about  forty  in  number,  all  of  which  her  good  eyesight 
enabled  her  to  read  herself  and  greatly  enjoy.  Among  the 
Saturday  callers  were  Mrs.  Williams's  pupil  of  long  ago, 
Mrs.  Eliza  (Phelps)  Wilcox,  Birdseye  E.  Case  and  wife 
and  Mrs.  Julia  Goodrich  of  Hartford  and  Mrs.  Bell 
Gilbert  and  Miss  Maud  Loomis  of  Granby.  She  was 
further  honored  and  delighted  by  receiving  many  calls  on 
Sunday  from  people  of  all  religious  faiths,  whom  she  de- 
lighted, in  turn,  by  her  sparkling,  witty  conversation. 

Among  the  callers  were  the  Hon., Henry  K.  Morgan, 
in  his  89th  year,  his  daughter,  Miss  Emily,  Rabbi  Elkin, 
Major  Henry  P.  and  Mrs.  Hitchcock,  Major  and  Mrs. 
William  H.  Talcott,  Judge  Leonard  Morse,  Enos  Lane, 
James  H.  Smith,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Lankton,  and  the 
Rev.  A.  C.  Johnson  of  Hartford,  and  Mrs.  Roxy  M. 
Hoyt  (daughter  of  the  late  Giles  Calhoun  of  Collinsville), 
and  Henry  T.  Hart,  both  of  East  Hartford. 

Mrs.  Williams  is  in  good  health,  gets  about  the  house, 
upstairs  and  down,  with  ease,  and  walks  out  almost  daily. 

S.  BARBOUR. 
HARTFORD,  December  2,  1907. 


ADDITIONAL  SKETCHES. 


Having  in  the  foregoing  letters  to  the  HARTFORD 
TIMES  referred  only  in  a  general  way  to  the  family  to 
which  I  belong,  it  has  been  suggested  to  me  by  persons 
outside  that  family,  that  I  ought  to  include  in  this  pub- 
lication, statistics  of  the  different  branches  of  that  family, 
somewhat  in  detail;  accordingly  waiving  modesty,  I 
proceed  to  comply  with  those  suggestions,  in  the  hope  that 
thereby  I  may  furnish  historical  and  biographical  informa- 
tion of  some  general  interest,  present  and  future.  As  I 
stated  on  bottom  of  page  55,  I  use  the  form  of  spelling  the 
name  adopted  by  the  person  referred  to,  the  practice  of 
the  families  not  being  uniform. 

HENRY  BARBOUR. 

My  father,  Henry  Barbour,  was  fifth  in  descent  from 
Thomas  Barber,  who  came  to  Windsor,  Conn.,  in  1635, 
and  he  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  and  Abi  ( Merrill)  Barber, 
of  Canton,  where  he  was  born  March  12,  1793.  On 
April  2,  1817,  he  was  married  to  Naomi,  daughter  of 
Solomon  and  Hannah  (Brown)  Humphrey,  of  Barkham- 
sted,  Conn.,  the  marriage  ceremony  having  been  per- 
formed in  Barkhamsted  by  William  Taylor,  Esq.  Naomi 
was  born  in  Burlington,  Conn.,  where  the  family  then  re- 
sided, September  28,  1794.  In  the  paternal  line  she  was 
fifth  in  descent  from  Michael  Humphrey,  who  came  from 
England,  and  afterward  to  Windsor,  Conn.,  about  1640. 
As  in  the  mingling  of  the  blood  in  my  veins  there  is  some 
Dyer  blood  intermixed,  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  my  mother 
was  fifth  in  descent  from  Sarah  Dyer,  of  Weymouth, 


102  BARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 

Mass.,  who  was  the  wife  of  John  Ruggles,  Jr.,  and  who 
died  May  2,  1687.  In  her  maternal  line,  my  mother  was 
sixth  in  descent  from  Peter  Brown,  of  Plymouth,  Mass. 

Immediately  upon  their  marriage,  my  father  and 
mother  began  housekeeping  at  the  home  of  his  widowed 
mother  and  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  in  the  house 
latterly  known  as  the  Treat  Lambert  house,  situated  about 
one  and  one  half  miles  northerly  of  Canton  Center  Con- 
gregational church.  In  the  fall  of  1817,  they  moved 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  westerly  to  the  house  afterward  long 
owned  and  occupied  by  Loin  Harmon  Humphrey.  In 
April,  1820,  they  moved  one  mile  northwesterly  to  the 
then  one-story  house  that  had  been  occupied  by  my  father's 
first  cousin,  John  Barber,  father  of  General  Lucius  A. 
Barbour's  father,  Lucius,  where  the  latter  was  born  July 
26,  1805.  My  father  added  a  second  story  to  that  house; 
the  present  and  long-time  past  appearance  of  it  being  as 
shown  in  the  accompanying  picture. 

There  were  born  to  my  parents,  children  as  follows: 
Clarinda,  April  17,  1818;  Heman  Humphrey,  July  19, 
1820;  Henry  Stiles,  August  2,  1822;  Lucy,  May  7,  1824; 
Pluma,  September  17,  1826;  Juliaette,  November  14, 
1828;  Sylvester,  January  2p,  1831;  Eliza  Naomi,  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1833;  and  Edward  Payson,  September  23,  1834. 
The  eldest  of  these  children  was  born  in  the  Harmon 
Humphrey  house,  the  others  in  the  house  afterward  oc- 
cupied by  the  family.  That  house,  and  the  farm  connected 
with  it,  now  belong  to  the  family  of  the  late  Levi  Gillette, 
whose  son,  Francis  A.,  now  owns  and  occupies  the  farm 
across  the  street,  which  was  originally  a  part  of  my 
father's  farm,  my  brother-in-law,  Henry  P.  Lane,  having 
bought  it,  and  built  the  house  upon  it,  which  he  occupied 
several  years. 


HENRY  BARBOUR 


NAOMI  HUMPHREY  BARBOUR 


LUCY  BARBOUR  LANE  PLUMA  BARBOUR  GARRETTE 

Parents  and  Daughters 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


CLARINDA  BARBOUR. 


103 


On  May  2,  1838,  this  daughter  was  married  to  Frank- 
lin Ruel  Perry,  who  was  born  August  30,  1813.  He 
was  a  large-sized,  brainy  man,  possessed  of  more  than 
average  talents  and  intelligence,  positive  in  his  convictions. 
They  first  resided  in  the  Widow  Spring  house,  situated  a 
few  rods  easterly  of  the  Pliny  Case  blacksmith  shop,  at 
Canton  Center;  then,  for  a  few  years,  in  the  Hosea  Case 
house,  situated  on  the  hill  a  few  rods  northerly  of  the  site 
of  the  present  schoolhouse  of  the  North  Center  school 
district.  He  taught  school  winters;  and  carried  on  farm- 
ing in  the  summer  time,  on  a  part  of  the  farm  then  be- 
longing to  Capt.  Loin  Humphrey,  of  which  part  of  farm 
and  Case  house  the  late  Giles  Sisson  afterward  became 
the  owner,  and  he  took  down  that  house  and  built,  and  for 
many  years  occupied  a  new  house  on  substantially  the 
same  spot.  Afterward  the  Perry  family  for  a  while  oc- 
cupied the  Augustus  H.  Carrier  house,  subsequently  owned 
by  Cyrus  Harvey,  of  Collinsville,  situated  midway  be- 
tween Canton  Center  and  Collinsville;  and  then  they 
moved  to  Collinsville,  where  he  for  years  held  a  position  in 
Collins  Company's  works. 

There  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perry  three  chil- 
dren, Oliver  Franklin,  October  11,  1839;  Esther  Cla- 
rinda,  March  28,  1842;  and  Wilbert  Warren,  December 
20,  1851;  the  first  named  in  the  Spring  house,  and  the 
others  in  the  Hosea  Case  house. 

Politically,  Mr.  Perry  allied  himself  with  the  despised 
Abolition  party,  and  then  with  the  Republican  party  on 
its  formation.  He  held  several  town  offices,  and  was 
esteemed  for  his  upright  character  and  sound  judgment. 
He  and  his  brother-in-law,  Henry  Stiles  Barbour,  had  a 
novel  experience  one  winter  in  the  forties,  just  after  the 
announcement  of  the  invention  by  Morse  of  the  electric 
telegraph.  They  traveled  in  a  portion  of  New  England, 


104  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

lecturing  on  the  invention,  and  exhibiting  its  working  by 
a  wire  drawn  from  end  to  end  of  a  hall,  they  transmitting 
messages  to  each  other  from  the  respective  ends.  They 
had  some  difficulty  in  convincing  their  audiences  that  there 
was  not  collusion  between  them  as  to  the  messages  'trans- 
mitted, until,  upon  their  invitation,  individuals  in  the 
audience  prepared  and  handed  to  the  operator  the  mes- 
sage to  be  sent.  Mr.  Perry  died  December  12,  1878, 
and  his  wife,  April  30,  1886. 

OLIVER  FRANKLIN  PERRY. 

He  is  possessed  of  an  even,  most  amiable  disposition, 
and  maintains  peaceful  relations  with  everybody,  and  is 
faithful  to  every  trust  committed  to  him.  For  44  years 
he  has  been  connected  with  Collins  Company  in  its  office 
in  Collinsville.  On  June  30,  1870,  he  was  married  to 
Laura  Latimer,  of  Simsbury,  a  most  estimable  woman. 
She  was  born  January  14,  1847.  There  have  been  born 
to  them  two  children,  Wilbert  Latimer,  December  31, 
1871;  and  one  that  died  at  birth.  On  June  2,  1906, 
Wilbert  was  married  to  Helen  Bernardine  Mahoney,  of 
Hartford.  They  reside  in  West  Hartford,  and  he  is  a 
rising  insurance  man,  connected  with  the  ^Etna  Fire  In- 
surance company  in  its  office  in  Hartford.  They  have 
no  children. 

ESTHER  CLARINDA  PERRY. 

She  has  had  an.  extraordinary  career.  She  graduated 
from  the  State  Normal  school  in  New  Britain  in  July, 
1860;  and,  with  the  exception  of  one  year  in  the  interval, 
has  taught  school  continuously  since  that  time;  35  years 
in  the  large  graded  public  school  of  the  West  Middle 
District  of  Hartford;  being  for  20  years  its  principal, 
convincing  proof  of  her  ability  in  teaching  and  govern- 
ment. She  is  a  woman  of  commanding  presence,  queenly 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


105 


in  visage  and  bearing,  always  self-possessed.  Her  years 
and  labors  seem  to  have  made  little  impression  upon  her. 
She  retains  her  connection  with  the  school  referred  to. 

WILBERT  WARREN  PERRY. 

He  inherited  sterling  qualities  from  his  parents.  He 
graduated  from  the  Hartford  High  school  in  1867;  from 
Yale  College  before  he  was  20  years  old,  valedictorian 
of  the  class  (1871),  having  among  his  classmates  the 
Hon.  Charles  Hopkins  Clark,  editor  of  the  HARTFORD 
COURANT,  and  Hon.  Charles  D.  Hine,  secretary  of  the 
Connecticut  State  Board  of  Education.  For  a  time  he 
conducted  a  school  for  the  education  of  boys  for  college, 
in  Morristown,  New  Jersey.  He  graduated  from  Columbia 
Law  school,  New  York,  taking  high  rank.  He  practiced 
law  in  Hartford  nearly  twenty  years,  demonstrating  that 
he  was  able  to  conduct  the  trial  of  the  most  important 
and  difficult  cases,  civil  and  criminal.  Jointly  with  Hon. 
Edward  S.  Cleveland,  he  represented  Hartford  in  the 
House  in  1883,  and  was  honored  by  Speaker  Pine  by  an 
appointment  on  the  Judiciary  Committee  as  an  additional 
member  from  Hartford  County. 

On  October  6,  1880,  he  was  married  to  Kate  Cleve- 
land Pratt,  of  Hartford,  and  there  were  born  to  them  four 
children,  namely:  Wilbert  Warren,  Jr.,  August  29,  1881 ; 
Katherine,  March  25,  1883;  Cleveland,  March  13,  1885; 
and  Franklin,  February  23,  1888;  the  latter  dying  April 
25,  1888.  Wilbert,  Jr.,  and  Cleveland  are  unmarried. 
On  September  19,  1903,  Katherine  was  married  to  Harold 
W.  Hough,  son  of  Hon.  Emerson  A.  Hough,  of  Collins- 
ville  (House,  1903),  and  they  have  two  children,  Perry 
Tyler,  born  April  30,  1905,  and  George  Emerson,  born 
June  19,  1908.  William  and  Harold  are  in  the  office  of 
the  ^tna  Life  Insurance  company,  Hartford;  Cleveland 
is  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  where  the  mother  resides. 


I06  HARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 

HEMAN  HUMPHREY  BARBOUR. 

On  October  23,  1845,  ne  was  married  to  Frances 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Merlin  and  Clarissa  (Newton) 
Merrill,  of  Barkhamsted,  Conn.,  where  she  was  born 
May  25,  1824.  She  was  a  woman  of  much  talent  and 
culture,  a  very  devoted  daughter,  wife  and  mother.  There 
were  born  to  this  happy  pair  ten  children,  Joseph  Lane, 
December  18,  1846;  Henry  Merlin  (named  for  his 
grandfathers),  May  29,  1848;  Heman  Humphrey,  Jr., 
June  22,  1850;  James  Bolles,  December  17,  1851; 
Thomas  Seymour,  July  28,  1853;  Francis  Newton,  March 
26,  1855;  Samuel  Barwick  Beresford  (named  for  the 
beloved  family  physician),  February  12,  1857;  William 
Hungerford,  November  7,  1858;  Frances  E.,  August  2, 
1 86 1 ;  and  a  son,  October  17,  1863.  Joseph  was  born  at 
his  grandfather  Merrill's,  in  Barkhamsted;  Henry  in 
Columbus,  Ind. ;  Heman,  Jr.,  on  Windsor  street,  Hart- 
ford, in  the  brick  house,  then  known  as  No.  40,  and  now 
called  No.  120;  James,  Thomas,  Francis,  and  Samuel, 
on  said  Windsor  street,  in  the  south  half  of  brick  house, 
then  known  as  No.  35,  and  now  called  No.  105;  the 
other  children  (including  the  second  wife's),  were  born 
in  the  brick  house  on  the  east  side  of  Windsor  Avenue, 
Hartford,  second  one  north  of  Pavilion  street.  (I  think 
these  statements  as  to  precise  places  of  birth  must  be  of 
interest  to  the  families  concerned).  At  the  time  of 
Joseph's  birth,  the  residence  of  the  family  was  in  Colum- 
bus, Ind.,  but  Mr.  Barbour  was  in  the  Mexican  War, 
adjutant  of  a  regiment,  having  enlisted  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war.  He  obtained  a  furlough  to  come  east,  to  be 
present  at  the  natal  ceremonies.  Joseph  was  named  for 
Joseph  Lane,  a  general  in  that  war.  Mr.  Barbour  was 
fond  of  western  life  and  manners  —  entered  much  into 
politics  out  there;  was  in  the  state  senate,  and  talked  of 
for  Congress,  and  would  have  preferred  to  remain  there; 


HEMAN  H.   BARBOUR 


HENRY  S.   BARBOUR 


SYLVESTER  BARBOUR  EDWARD  P.  BARBOUR 

The  four  sons  of  Henry  and  Naomi  Barbour  in  the  order  of  their  ages. 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

but,  that  discouraging  ailment,  fever  and  ague,  then  very 
prevalent  in  Indiana  and  the  new  west  generally,  so  af- 
fected his  wife's  health,  that  he  found  it  necessary  to 
change  his  residence;  and  he  decided  to  return  east,  and 
he  located  in  Hartford  in  April,  1850. 

Of  this  branch  of  the  family  there  have  died,  Francis 
Newton,  April  23,  1857;  Samuel,  November  15,  1859; 
Frances  E.,  September  9,  1861;  the  mother  and  infant 
son  at  the  birth  of  the  latter,  October  17,  1863;  James, 
October  5,  1869;  and  William,  December  3,  1898.  The 
mother  and  infant  were  buried  in  one  casket.  On  Sammie's 
tombstone  is  this  epitaph,  "  Our  boys  still  number  seven, 
five  on  earth,  two  in  heaven  " ;  a  thought  suggested  by 
Wordsworth's  beautiful  poem,  "  We  are  Seven."  Wil- 
liam was  named  for  William  Hungerford,  Hartford's 
distinguished  lawyer,  who,  on  learning  of.  the  christening, 
was  so  pleased  that  he  sent  the  father  fifty  dollars,  as  a 
present  to  the  child. 

On  May  9,  1865,  Mr.  Barbour  was  married  to  Myra 
Ann,  daughter  of  William  Frazer  Barker,  of  Hartford, 
a  brother  of  Ludlow  Barker,  and  to  them  were  born  three 
children,  Clarence  Augustus,  April  21,  1867;  John  Bap- 
tiste,  June  24,  1869;  anc*  Edith  Gertrude,  March  15, 
1874,  the  latter  dying  October  23,  1874.  Mrs.  Barbour, 
an  estimable  Christian  woman,  had  been  associated  with 
Mr.  Barbour  in  Sunday-school  and  other  church  work  in 
the  North  Baptist  church,  in  Hartford.  She  was  left  a 
widow  on  June  29,  1875,  her  elder  son  then  being  only 
eight  years  old.  For  a  time  she  resided  in  Hartford,  until 
the  graduation  from  the  high  school  of  the  elder  son,  then 
moved  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  where  she  remained 
until  the  graduation  of  both  sons  from  Brown  University. 
She  now  resides  in  Rochester,  New  York,  in  the  family  of 
her  son,  Clarence. 

Some  allusion  is  made  in  the  Fifty-Year  article,  on 
page  17,  to  Mr.  Barbour's  political  work  in  Connecticut, 


1O8  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

and,  in  the  address  at  the  funeral  of  the  sister,  Lucy,  to 
his  philanthropic  work,  which  was  extensive.  As  a  lawyer, 
he  was  in  the  front  rank  in  Hartford.  He  was  a  power- 
ful logician,  as  the  late  Hon.  Henry  C.  Robinson  ex- 
pressed it,  and  he  relied  much  on  general  principles  in 
the  trial  of  his  cases,  thereby  winning  some  important 
ones,  for  which  no  precedents  could  be  found  in  the  re- 
ports. He  was,  withal,  a  very  conscientious  lawyer,  and 
would  not  take  a  case  until  he  first  became  satisfied  his 
client  was  in  the  right;  he  declined  to  bring  any  divorce 
case,  except  on  the  one  scriptural  ground  —  adultery, 
thereby  manifesting  his  acceptance  of  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible,  as  the  rule  of  his  life  in  all  matters. 

JOSEPH  LANE  BARBOUR. 

Joseph's  fame  as  a  lawyer  and  public  speaker  is  more 
than  state-wide.  He  is  most  attractive  and  convincing  to 
a  jury,  in  happiest  relations  with  the  judges  and  lawyers, 
the  sharpest  tilts  with  the  latter  being  quickly  forgotten 
by  the  participants,  because  not  prompted  by  personal 
hatred,  but  by  momentary  excitement;  impassioned,  dra- 
matic, keenest  in  wit,  and  aptest  as  a  story  teller  on  the 
political  platform;  unsurpassed  in  making  and  clinching 
points;  and  in  such  demand  in  political  campaigns  that 
no  hall  can  be  found  large  enough  to  hold  the  crowds 
that  flock  to  hear  him.  His  work  is  always  most  intense, 
and,  vigorous  as  he  is,  he  would  ere  this  have  collapsed, 
if  he  did  not  in  summer  time,  for  a  month  or  two,  steal 
away  from  his  work,  into  the  mountains  or  onto  the  ocean 
where  his  clients  cannot  find  him.  He  is  as  simple,  un- 
artificial,  natural  in  manner  as  a  child.  This  is  no  over- 
drawn picture  of  the  man,  in  the  delineation  of  which  I 
believe  I  am  not  in  the  least  influenced  by  the  relationship 
existing  between  us. 

Joseph  practiced  for  a  while  in  New  Britain  in  com- 
pany with  his  brother,  Heman,  and  was  a  member  of  the 


ESTHER  C.   PERRY 


JOSEPH  L.   BARBOUR  REV.   HEMAN  H.   BARBOUR,  JR. 

Cousins  of  the  above-named  lady 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES  109 

Common  Council  there  for  a  time.  In  1877  he  was  clerk 
oif  the  House,  and  of  the  Senate  in  1878  and  1879.  ^n 
1884  he  was  prosecuting  attorney  of  the  city  of  Hartford. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  House  from  Hartford  in  1897, 
when  he  was  made  Speaker,  remarking  in  his  address  on 
taking  the  chair,  that  it  was  the  happiest  moment  of  his 
life.  He  belongs  to  the  Masonic  order,  being  a  Knight 
Templar. 

On  June  21,  1871,  Joseph  was  married  to  Anne  Jane, 
daughter  of  Oliver  and  Jane  E.  Woodhouse,  of  Hartford, 
her  father  then  and  for  years  before  being  assistant  post- 
master of  Hartford.  Anne  was  born  in  Hartford,  August 
21,  1851.  There  have  been  born  to  this  pair  five  children, 
all  in  Hartford,  viz.:  Frances,  July  25,  1872;  Robert 
Woodhouse,  February  13,  1877;  Richard  Joseph,  March 
13,  1879;  Florence  Anne,  February  19/1881 ;  and  Edwin 
Parker,  May  23,  1886.  Frances  is  unmarried  and  resides 
with  her  parents.  Robert  is  unmarried,  and  now  living 
in  the  state  of  Washington.  On  November  11,  1903, 
Florence  was  married  to  Arthur  R.,  son  of  Rev.  Dr. 
George  R.  Van  De  Water,  of  New  York,  and  they  have 
one  child,  Dorothy,  born  December  9,  1904.  Richard 
died  July  6,  1880,  and  Edwin,  May  18,  1887. 

HENRY  MERLIN  BARBOUR. 

Mr.  Barbour  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Hartford,  and  in  Trinity  College,  of  which  he  is  a  gradu- 
ate. He  is  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  having  had  pastorates 
in  New  Jersey,  and  is  now  rector  of  The  Church  of  the 
Beloved  Disciple,  in  New  York  City.  On  June  27,  1872, 
he  was  married  to  Harriet  Deming,  and  to  them  have 
been*  born  these  children,  Henry  Grosvenor,  November 
X5>  ^735  Elizabeth  Sumner,  July  21,  1877;  Catharine 
Hutchinson,  August  15,  1879;  Margaret  Mary  Clymer, 
May  31,  1887;  and  Myron  Wallace  Wilson,  December 
27,  1890.  The  first  named  child  is  dead.  Elizabeth 
was  married  to  Hutchinson  Southgate,  January  19,  I 


HO  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

HEMAN  HUMPHREY  BARBOUR,  JR. 

He  received  his  preparatory  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Hartford,  and  then  read  law.  He  practiced  in 
New  Britain,  Hartford  and  Norwalk,  Conn.,  from  1871 
to  1880,  and  was  very  successful.  His  success  was  due 
largely  to  his  wonderful  oratorical  gift,  backed  by  in- 
domitable energy  and  perseverance,  and  his  great  sincerity. 
He  was  always  working;  at  night  he  often  wrote  out  and 
committed  to  memory  his  arguments  to  be  addressed  to 
the  jury,  so  that  he  might  be  concise  in  delivery  and  have 
every  word  mean  something.  In  build  and  pose  he  much 
resembled  the  "  Little  Giant,"  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Lin- 
coln's powerful  adversary  on  many  a  hard  fought  political 
battlefield.  While  practicing  law  he  had  had  much  suc- 
cess, and  his  leaving  the  legal  profession  seemed  to  many 
a  mistake,  as  it  involved  a  great  financial  sacrifice;  but, 
he  had  had  a  visitation  from  heaven,  similar  to  that  ex- 
perience by  St.  Paul,  and,  like  the  latter,  he  became  con- 
vinced that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  that 
was  an  end  of  the  controversy  in  his  mind  over  the  matter. 

He  was  ordained  to  the  ministry,  after  a  preparatory 
course,  and  held  pastorates  as  follows,  namely :  over  the 
North  Baptist  church,  in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  1880- 
1886;  Trinity  Baptist  Church,  Camden,  New  Jersey, 
1887-1888;  Belden  Avenue  Baptist  church,  Chicago,  111., 
1888-1894;  First  Baptist  church,  Lockport,  New  York, 
1894-1896;  First  Baptist  church,  Columbus,  Ohio,  1896- 
1904;  and  again  North  Baptist  church,  Newark,  New 
Jersey,  1904-1905.  His  number  of  pastorates  should 
not  be  taken  as  an  evidence  that  he  was,  as  a  preacher, 
unpopular,  for,  as  a  preacher,  he  was  much  esteemed;  but 
it  was  his  delight  to  take  a  church  that  needed  an  infusion 
of  new  life,  which,  in  his  work,  generally  resulted  in  an 
increased  membership,  and,  in  some  instances,  in  the  build- 
ing of  new  church  edifices. 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  III 

On  January  26,  1869,  he  was  married  to  Frances 
Emma  Luther,  of  Berlin,  Conn.,  and  to  them  were  born 
three  children,  James  Joseph,  December  28,  1869;  Ernest 
Luther,  September  24,  1871;  and  Elizabeth  Humphrey, 
July  7,  1873.  On  July  13,  1890,  Ernest  was  married  to 
Mertie  May  Clow,  and  to  them  have  been  born  two  chil- 
dren, Neva  Vaughan,  November  20,  1892;  and  Olga 
Clow,  October  19,  1894.  On  October  18,  1891,  Elizabeth 
was  married  to  Frank  Lynde. 

On  June  10,  1889,  Heman,  Jr.,  was  married  to 
Gertrude  Annie  Mahan,  of  Chicago,  and  to  them  were 
born  four  children,  namely :  Helen  Sampson,  January 
17,  1893,  in  Chicago;  Humphrey  M.,  December  13, 
1894,  in  Lockport,  N.  Y. ;  Roger  Merrill,  February  28, 
1897;  and  Lorraine  O.,  January  5,  1900,  the  last  two  in 
Columbus,  Ohio. 

In  his  battling  with  an  incurable,  painful  malady  for 
a  year  or  two  before  he  died,  Mr.  Barbour  resembled  that 
great  soldier  and  sufferer  from  a  like  disease,  General 
Grant,  and  his  heroism,  like  that  of  the  general,  elicited 
the  wonder  and  sympathy  of  his  many  acquaintances,  and 
of  the  public  generally.  The  general  at  Mount  McGregor 
was  struggling  to  complete  his  Memorrs  before  his  death; 
and  Mr.  Barbour,  from  his  sick  bed,  in  his  affection  for  his 
church,  painfully  prepared  sermons  to  be  read  from  his 
pulpit. 

In  the  great  affliction  arising  from  the  loss  of  her 
husband,  there  remains  to  the  widow  the  solace  derived 
from  the  possession  of  four  bright  children,  whom  she  is 
struggling  to  keep  together,  and  properly  rear  and  educate. 
She  now  resides  at  Bloomington,  Indiana. 

JAMES  JOSEPH  BARBOUR. 

This  son  of  Heman,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Hartford,  in 
one  of  the  dwelling-houses  his  grandfather  built,  on  the 
east  side  of  Barbour  street,  a  street  laid  out  by  the  latter, 


112  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

and 'named  by  the  city,  as  a  token  of  respect  for  him. 
James  went  to  Chicago  to  practice  law,  was  there  married 
on  September  2,  1891,  to  Lillian  Clayton,  and  there  have 
been  born  to  them  three  children,  Justin  Fulton,  December 
30,  1892;  Heman  Humphrey,  May  27,  1894;  and  Eliza- 
beth, May  25,  1900.  On  January  19,  1904,  he  was 
appointed  assistant  state's  attorney  by  the  Hon.  Charles 
S.  Deneen,  then  state's  attorney  of  Cook  County,  111., 
and  now  governor  of  that  state;  was  reappointed  by 
Hon.  John  J.  Healy,  present  state's  attorney,  in  December, 
1904,  and  became  first  assistant  in  1907.  He  is  evidently 
in  the  line  of  promotion  to  the  state's  attorneyship.  He 
has  conducted  the  prosecution  of  important  cases,  with 
extraordinary  ability  and  success.  In  moderate  stature, 
and  unpretentious  manners,  he  is  like  his  distinguished 
namesake  uncle,  and,  when  roused  for  the  fray,  like  him, 
is  a  formidable  adversary  in  the  court  room. 

From  earliest  boyhood  he  has  had  an  ambition  to  suc- 
ceed as  an  advocate.  All  his  reading  has  been  directed  to 
that  end.  He  has  made  it  a  point  to  study  the  biographies 
of  statesmen,  and  great  lawyers,  to  read  the  literature  of 
eventful  trials,  and,  whenever  possible^  to  come  into  per- 
sonal relation  with  those  who  have  been  truly  successful 
in  life,  so  that  he  may  be  influenced  by  their  example  and 
precept.  Hard  work  at  all  times  has  had  much  to  do  with 
bringing  results.  One  of  the  important  trials  he  has 
lately  conducted  was  that  of  the  prosecution  of  the  ex- 
chief  of  police  and  his  attorney,  for  conspiracy. 

THOMAS  SEYMOUR  BARBOUR. 

He  is  a  Baptist  clergyman,  is  a  doctor  of  divinity,  and 
has  held  different  pastorates.  He  is  now  connected  with 
the  mission  work  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  being  cor- 
responding secretary  of  the  Foreign  Department,  with 
central  office  in  Boston.  On  September  4,  1877,  he  was 
married  to  Emma  J.  White,  and  to  them  were  born  chil- 


BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  113 

dren,  as  follows:  Louise  Huntley,  September  19,  1880; 
Harris  Merrill,  September  6,  1884;  Florence  White, 
February  4,  1888;  and  Gertrude  Frances,  May  18,  1889. 
Louise  was  married  to  Rev.  Randall  T.  Capen,  on  May 
i,  1903.  She  died  March  n,  1904,  leaving  an  infant 
child.  Mr.  Barbour's  very  extraordinary  benignity  of 
character  is  conspicuously  depicted  on  his  countenance,  and 
tenderly  exhibited  in  his  manners.  Such  a  man  must  be 
loved  by  all  who  know  him. 

WILLIAM  HUNGERFORD  BARBOUR. 

He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Hartford, 
and  followed  a  business  life;  his  last  place  of  residence 
being  in  the  south.  He  was  married,  and  there  are  four 
children,  issue  of  the  marriage:  Milton,  born  in  1886; 
Genevieve  Merrill,  born  in  1889;  William  Hungerford, 
Jr.,  born  in  1892;  and  Joseph  Lane,  id,  born  in  1897. 
He  died  December  3,  1898,  leaving  a  widow  and  children. 

CLARENCE  AUGUSTUS  BARBOUR. 

This  son  graduated  from  the  Hartford  High  school  in 
1884;  from  Brown  University  in  1888;  from  Rochester 
Theological  Seminary  in  1891 ;  and  has  been  pastor  of  the 
Lake  Avenue  Baptist  church  of  Rochester,  since  1891. 
When  he  assumed  this  pastorate,  the  membership  of  the 
church  was  a  little  short  of  five  hundred ;  it  is  now  a  little 
over  eleven  hundred.  He  is  an  able  preacher,  and  beloved 
as  a  pastor.  Bible  school  work  has  always  been  a  promi- 
nent feature  in  the  church,  and  the  school  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  city,  and,  indeed,  in  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion in  New  York  state.  He  has  also  interested  himself 
as  a  citizen,  and  has  been  influential  in  the  change  of  the 
Rochester  public  school  system  from  one  that  was  no- 
toriously bad,  to  one  holding  rank  among  the  very  best 


114 


BARBOUR'S  REMINISCENCES 


in  the  country.  One  of  his  ambitions  at  the  beginning  of 
his  ministry  was,  to  be  known  as  a  man's  man,  and  such 
he  has  proved  to  be  in  the  highest  meaning  of  that  term. 
On  June  28,  1891,  he  was  married  to  Florence  Isa- 
belle  Newell,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  they  have 
four  children,  born  as  follows:  Eric  Newell,  May  26, 
1892;  Ethel  Wilbur,  August  19,  1893;  Myra  Seymour, 
March  3,  1895;  and  Harold  Robinson,  August  27,  1896. 
He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the 
University  of  Rochester,  June  19,  1901.  He  received  the 
33d  and  last  degree  of  Masonry  from  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Ancient  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  on  Septem- 
ber 17,  1907.  Mr.  Barbour  is  very  felicitous  on  Memorial 
day  occasions.  His  address  at  Rochester  this  year  was 
on  the  theme,  The  Immortal  Words  of  President  Lincoln 
at  Gettysburg. 


JOHN  BAPTISTE  BARBOUR. 

Mr.  Barbour  graduated  from  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  high  school  in  1887;  from  Brown  University  in 
1891;  and  from  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary  jn 
1896.  He  has  held  pastorates  as  follows:  in  Geneva,. 
Syracuse  and  Mumford,  New  York;  and  in  Erie,  Penn.,. 
where  he  is  now  pastor  of  the  Calvary  Baptist  church. 
On  July  13,  1896,  he  was  married  to  Lois  Preston  Wray, 
of  Rochester,  and  they  have  three  children,  born  as 
follows:  Marion  Harrison,  July  12,  1897;  Ruth,  No- 
vember 26,  1900;  and  Dorothy  Wray,  April  21,  1905. 
Mr.  Barbour  has  a  singularly  strong  gift  of  organization. 
In  all  of  his  pastorates,  his  systematic  and  wise  handling 
of  the  forces  of  the  church  has  shown  large  and  important 
results.  He  is  very  strong  among  the  young  people.  He 
has  a  genuine  gift  of  clear,  concise  and  forceful  utterance, 
and  preaches  much  without  manuscript.  He  is  an  ardent 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  115 

worker  in  the  field  of  temperance,  in  that  respect  follow- 
ing the  example  of  his  distinguished  father. 

(If,  in  the  divine  arrangement,  that  is  permissible, 
with  what  delight  must  the  father  of  these  five  ministerial 
sons  have  watched  their  careers!) 

HENRY  STILES  BARBOUR. 

This  brother  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1 849,  and  then 
located  in  Torrington,  the  village  part  of  the  town  then 
being  called  Wolcottville,  where  he  remained  till  1870, 
when  he  removed  to  Hartford,  and  formed  a  partnership 
with  the  older  brother,  Heman,  which  continued  till  the 
death  of  the  latter.  He  built  up  a  large  practice  in  Litch- 
field  County,  and  was  so  beloved  in  Torrington,  that  there 
was  general  mourning  of  the  people  there  when  he  left.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  bar  in  Hartford,  to  take  notice  of  Mr. 
Barbour's  death,  the  Hon.  Frank  L.  Hungerford,  a  native 
of  Torrington,  a  member  of  the  very  prominent  family  of 
John  Hungerford,  and  in  the  practice  of  law  there  for  a 
time  before  he  came  to  New  Britain,  spoke  thus  affection- 
ately of  Mr.  Barbour:  "  I  have  known  Judge  Barbour 
since  my  earliest  childhood,  as  I  was  born  in  Torrington 
where  he  had  practiced  law  for  many  years,  and  during 
my  minority  he  was  my  guardian.  He  was  the  man  of 
the  town,  and  prominent  in  church  matters.  Every  one 
looked  up  to  him,  and  thought  when  they  had  his  opinion 
on  any  matter,  they  had  all  that  cpuld  be  gotten  anywhere. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  knowledge  and  ex- 
cellent judgment."  Judge  McConville,  who  had  read  law 
with  him,  and  had  been  for  years  in  his  office,  said  of  him: 
"  he  never  had  an  unkind  word  to  say  of  any  one.  He 
loved  his  fellow  men,  and  delighted  to  help  them.  .  .  . 
He  died  as  he  had  lived,  a  patient,  upright,  Christian 
gentleman."  The  Hon.  John  Hooker  said  of  him:  "  He 
was  one  of  the  best  probate  lawyers  in  the  state." 


Il6  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

Mr.  Barbour  held  the  offices  of  town  clerk  and  judge 
of  probate  much  of  the  time  he  resided  in  Torrington. 
He  represented  the  town  in  the  House  in  1850  and  1865, 
and  the  old  Fifteenth  Senatorial  district  in  1870.  Prior 
to  that  year  it  had  been  the  practice  to  allow  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  as  president  of  the  senate,  to  appoint  its  com- 
mittees. That  year  the  democrats  had  the  state  officers 
(Julius  Hotchkiss  being  lieutenant-governor),  and  the 
republicans  had  a  small  majority  of  the  senators.  Mr. 
Barbour  proposed  that  the  senate  should  appoint  its  com- 
mittees, as  was  the  custom  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  that  practice  was  then  adopted,  and  has  been  con- 
tinued since  in  Connecticut.  Mr.  Barbour  was  made 
chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  which  position  he 
filled  most  creditably. 

While  living  in  Torrington,  Mr.  Barbour  was  much 
talked  of  for  judge  of  the  superior  court,  a  position  he 
was  exceptionally  well  qualified  for,  having  the  judicial 
mind  and  temperament  similar  to  that  possessed  by  the 
late  Judge  Dwight  Loomis.  While  in  Hartford,  his  firm 
was  attorney  for  the  Connecticut  Valley  Railroad  Com- 
pany while  it  was  securing  its  rights  of  way  and  building 
the  road;  and  it  was  attorney  for  the  Charter  Oak  Life 
Insurance  Company  while  it  was  having  most  important 
matters  litigated;  and  was  attorney  for  the  town  of  Hart- 
ford during  the  time  the  question  of  the  title  to  the  Stone 
Pits,  a  matter  so  important  to  Hartford,  was  being  de- 
termined by  a  suit  in  the  superior  court,  the  firm  associating 
with  itself  in  the  trial,  the  Hon.  Charles  E.  Perkins,  the 
trial  being  by  jury,  and  occupying  many  days,  Hartford 
winning  in  the  sharp  contest. 

On  November  25,  1851,  Mr.  Barbour  was  married 
to  Pamela  J.  Bartholomew,  who  was  born  December  28, 
1827.  There  were  born  to  them  three  children,  all  in 
Torrington,  John  Humphrey,  May  29,  1854;  Lucy 
Amelia,  May  6,  1863;  and  Edward  Willis,  May  2,  1857. 


HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES  117 

The  last  named,  a  bright  and  very  attractive  child,  died 
May  28,  1861,  from  which  blow  Mr.  Barbour  never  re- 
covered before  his  own  death,  which  occurred  September 
21,  1891.  Mrs.  Barbour,  who  had  been  his  loving  help- 
mate, and  who  was  greatly  esteemed  by  a  widely  extended 
circle  of  acquaintances,  died  August  27,  1899. 

JOHN  HUMPHREY  BARBOUR. 

This  son  possessed  a  sweetness  of  disposition,  and 
gentleness  of  manners  that  made  him  beloved  by  all  who 
knew  him.  From  very  early  childhood,  he  had  an  inquir- 
ing mind,  and  soon  became  a  very  close  student  of  general 
literature  and  the  sciences,  about  which  he  was  a  very 
entertaining  conversationalist.  His  preparation  for  college 
was  thorough;  he  was  for  a  time  in  Amherst  college,  and 
graduated  from  Trinity  college  in  1873,  and  from 
Berkeley  Divinity  school  in  1876.  In  1899  he  received 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Trinity  college. 
He  began  his  ministry  in  the  Episcopal  church  in  Park- 
ville,  Connecticut,  and  subsequently  became  a  professor 
in  Berkeley  Divinity  school,  which  position  he  held  till  his 
death. 

On  May  7,  1878,  Mr.  Barbour  was  married  to  Annie 
Gray,  daughter  of  John  S.  Gray,  of  Hartford,  and  to  them 
were  born  four  children,  Ellen  Gray,  May  4,  1879; 
Henry  Gray,  March  28,  1886;  Paul  Humphrey,  Septem- 
ber 13,  1888;  and  a  child  that  died  in  infancy.  On  May 
14,  1907,  Ellen  was  married  to  Doctor  Walter  A.  Glines, 
now  doing  hospital  work  in  Panama,  and  on  May  7,  1908, 
3  daughter  was  born  to  them,  baptismal  name,  Elizabeth. 
Henry  graduated  from  Trinity  college,  in  class  of  1906, 
and  is  pursuing  study  for  becoming  a  physician.  Paul 
is  in  Trinity  college,  class  of  1909,  and  purposes  to  enter 
the  ministry.  Mr.  Barbour  died  April  29,  1900. 


Il8  BARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 

LUCY  AMELIA  BARBOUR. 

She  possesses  the  characteristics  of  her  father  and 
brother  John,  and,  like  them,  is  held  in  high  esteem.  To 
native  charm  of  manners  is  added  much  culture.  A  few 
years  since  she  established  on  Beacon  street,  Hartford, 
and  has  since  successfully  carried  on,  a  private  school  for 
fitting  girls  for  college. 

LUCY  BARBOUR   (LANE). 

On  November  9,  1846,  my  sister  Lucy  was  married 
to  Henry  Pratt  Lane,  who  was  born  in  Hartland,  Conn., 
February  29,  1820.  They  celebrated  their  golden  wedding 
on  November  9,  1 896.  There  were  born  to  them  four  chil- 
dren, Albert  Henry,  March  5,  1851;  Sylvester  Barbour, 
January  25,  1859;  Willis  Augustin,  August  28,  1865; 
and  Wallace  Stiles,  March  17,  1867.  Sylvester  died  June 
8,  1864,  Wallace,  December  2,  1890,  and  Albert,  Decem- 
ber 30,  1899.  The  family  first  resided  in  Collinsvilie, 
where  Mr.  Lane  held  a  good  position  in  Collins  Company's 
works;  afterward  for  a  time  he  owned  and  carried  on  the 
farm  opposite  that  of  his  wife's  father.  He  died  April 
6,  1900,  and  his  wife  July  9,  1902.  The  afflictions  of  the 
family,  and  the  characteristics  of  Mrs.  Lane  are  mentioned 
in  the  funeral  address,  copied  from  THE  TIMES,  to  be  read 
in  connection  with  this  sketch. 


[HARTFORD  TIMES,  July  12,  1902.] 


TRIBUTE  BY  JUDGE  BARBOUR.' 


DELIVERED  AT  FUNERAL  OF  His  SISTER,  MRS.  LUCY 
BARBOUR  LANE,  AT  CANTON. 


The  funeral  of  Mrs.  Lucy  Barbour  Lane  was  at- 
tended at  the  Congregational  church  at  Canton  Center, 
this  afternoon.  Mrs.  Lane,  who  died  in  Talcottville  on 
Wednesday,  was  the  widow  of  Henry  P.  Lane  of  Can- 
ton, of  which  town  she  was  a  native  and  for  many  years 
a  resident.  Her  father,  Henry  Barbour,  was  a  native  and 
lifelong  resident  of  Canton,  and  was  first  cousin  of  the 
grandfather  of  General  Lucius  A.  Barbour  of  Hartford; 
and  her  mother,  Naomi  Humphrey,  was  a  native  of 
Burlington,  a  sister  of  the  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey,  D.D., 
second  president  of  Amherst  College,  and  first  cousin 
of  John  Brown.  Two  of  Mrs.  Lane's  brothers,  the  late 
Judges  Heman  H.  and  Henry  S.  Barbour,  who  died  a 
few  years  ago,  were  well  known  lawyers  of  Hartford,  and 
two  of  her  sisters,  Miss  Julia  E.  Barbour  and  Mrs.  Eliza 
N.  Sexton,  invalids  for  many  years,  were  well  known  to 
many  people  in  Hartford  and  vicinity.  Mrs.  Lane  leaves 
only  one  child,  Willis  A.  Lane,  with  whom  she  resided 
since  the  death  of  her  husband,  two  years  ago. 

The  Rev.  Clarence  H.  Barber  of  Manchester,  whose 
father  was  first  cousin  to  the  deceased,  preached  a  sermon 
at  the  funeral  this  afternoon.  At  the  close  of  the  dis- 
course, Judge  Sylvester  Barbour  of  Hartford,  the  only 
living  brother,  made  an  address,  speaking  as  follows: 

JUDGE  BARBOUR'S  TRIBUTE  TO  His  SISTER'S  MEMORY. 
My  friends:    Before  we  go  to  the  churchyard,  to  com- 
plete these  funeral  rites,  I  wish  to  add  to  the  minister's 


120  .  HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

words  a  few  of  my  own,  such  as  my  extraordinary  situation 
suggests,  and  by  way  of  reminiscence  and  just  eulogy. 

As  you  know,  I  alone  remain  of  our  large  family. 
Death  first  entered  it  in  January,  1863,  taking  my  beloved 
mother,  my  father  following  six  years  later.  In  1875, 
when  the  youngest  of  the  nine  children  was  40  years  old, 
my  brother  Heman,  though  the  most  robust  of  all,  was 
cut  down  in  midlife,  by  reason  of  having  for  years  added 
to  his  exacting  professional  labors  philanthropic  work, 
including  that  of  rescuing  the  inebriate  and  reforming  the 
criminal.  Afterward,  one  after  another  passed  away,  the 
death  of  my  brother  Edward,  which  occurred  seven  years 
ago,  leaving  this  sister  and  myself  alone  remaining,  each 
of  us  wondering  which  of  us  would  be  the  survivor.  Since 
December,  18*98,  when  she  was  stricken  with  what  seemed 
to  be  a  fatal  sickness,  she  had  been  an  invalid,  patiently 
and  calmly  awaiting  her  release,  which  came  to  her  on 
Wednesday  morning,  when,  as  if  dropping  into  a  peaceful 
sleep,  she  passed  away,  at  the  age  of  78  years  and  63  days. 

Addedtto  my  deep  sense  of  sadness  and  loneliness  there 
comes  over  me  a  feeling  of  amazement,  such  as  I  would 
expect  to  have  were  I  the  sole  survivor  of  a  shipwreck 
at  sea;  and  it  is  with  no  affectation  that  I  say,  this  provi- 
dence, exercised  in  behalf  of  the  least  deserving  of  our 
family,  is  a  mystery  I  cannot  solve. 

(That  this  sister  ever  manifested  a  most  kindly  dis- 
position, free  from  every  appearance  of  jealousies,  envy, 
or  enmity  of  any  sort  toward  any  one,  I  think  I  may 
truly  affirm;  and  I  believe  that  many,  if  not  all  of  her 
numerous  acquaintances  in  this  and  other  communities 
where  she  lived  and  was  known  would  say  that  she 
was  so  generous,  so  unselfish,  that  she  more  than  fulfilled 
the  Scriptural  injunction  to  love  her  neighbor  as  herself. 
As  one  who  knew  her  well  has  said  of  her:  "  Her 
thoughts  seemed  never  to  be  for  herself,  but  always  for 
others."  This  remark  contains  no  extravagant  encomium. 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES  j2I 

To  the  sick,  the  hungry,  the  friendless  she  was  ever  a 
helpful  and  devoted  friend,  and  the  epitaph  at  the  tomb 
of  the  self-sacrificing  brother  referred  to  would  be  most 
appropriate  at  hers:  "Good  Samaritan:  Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

I  would  that  my  thoughts  might  follow  these  departed 
kindred  into  the  Beyond;  but  between  it  and  me  there  is 
a  veil,  impenetrable  even  to  my  faith.  There-  remain  to 
me,  however,  most  pleasant  memories  of  them  all,  and  if 
their  death  was  only  the  beginning  of  a  new  life,  I  am  con- 
fident it  is  \vell  with  them  now,  for  they  lived  righteously, 
and  this  world  is  the  better  for  their  having  lived  in  it.) 

It  seems  to  me  most  fit  that  this  sister  should  be 
buried  from  this  sacred  spot.  This  house  is  th'e  first  church 
edifice  she  ever  saw;  here,  in  infancy,  she  received  baptism 
from  the  devout  and  venerated  Hallock,  then  pastor  of 
the  church;  here,  in  early  childhood,  she  first  heard  the 
gospel  preached  and  received  lasting  impressions  from 
the  solemnity  of  the  service,  even  if  she  did  not  under- 
stand the  words  uttered;  here  she  was  a  Sunday-school 
scholar  and  teacher;  here,  in  mature  life,  she  took  upon 
herself  Christian  vows  and  spent  many  of  her  happiest 
hours  in  worship;  here,  nearly  fifty-six  years  ago,  as  a 
preliminary  to  marriage,  she  was  "  published  "  from  the 
pulpit  by  her  beloved  pastor,  Burt,  the  law  of  the  state 
then  requiring  proclamation  of  intended  marriage,  to  be 
made  at  least  eight  days  before  the  nuptial  ceremony,  by 
a  notice  read  in  meeting  or  posted  on  or  near  the  church, 
in  public  view;  and  from  here  were  borne  her  husband, 
three  children,  her  parents,  and  three  sisters  to  the  hal- 
lowed ground  across  the  street,  where,  with  them,  she  will 
soon  be  at  rest. 

Respected  neighbors  and  friends :  Now,  that  the  grave 
is  about  to  close  over  the  last  of  our  family  whom  you 
will  assist  to  bury,  I  wish  to  bear  testimony  to  your  very 


122  HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

many  kindnesses  to  us  as  a  family,  every  one  of  whom, 
if  they  could  now  join  me  in  word,  I  am  sure  would  say, 
Accept  our  heartfelt  thanks,  and  may  the  Good  Lord 
richly  reward  you.  And  I  should  be  false  to  my  feelings 
if  I  did  not  also  express  thanks  to  our  beloved  kinsman, 
who,  for  the  second  time  in  the  funeral  experience  of  our 
family,  has  come  here  today,  to  speak  to  us  words  so 
eminently  fitting  on  such  an  occasion. 

NOTE. 

The  following  is  copied  from  "  Trumbull's "  article  in  the 
Connecticut  supplement  of  the  New  York  Herald,  Sunday,  July 
2O,  1902: 

"  BROTHER  AND  SISTER. 

Mrs.  Lucy  Barbour  Lane,  who  died  recently  at  Canton,  this 
state,  was  a  member  of  a  very  prominent  Connecticut  family. 
Her  father  was  a  native  of  Canton,  and  her  mother,  Naomi 
Humphrey,  was  a  sister  of  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey,  D.D.,  second 
president  of  Amherst  College.  Two  of  Mrs.  Lane's  brothers, 
Judges  Heman  H.  and  Henry  S.  Barbour,  were  lawyers'  in  Hart- 
ford. Another  brother,  Judge  Sylvester  Barbour,  of  Hartford,  is 
the  only  living  member  of  the  family.  At  the  funeral  in  Canton, 
after  the  clergyman  had  delivered  his  sermon,  Judge  Barbour 
addressed  the  assembled  relatives  and  friends.  It  was  an  unusual 
occurrence,  but  parts  of  his  panegyric  are  worthy  of  preservation. 
He  said  in  part: — "  [Trumbull  copies  so  much  of  the  address  as 
is  included  in  the  parenthesis.] 

S.  B. 

WILLIS  AUGUSTIN  LANE. 

This  son  of  Henry  P.  and  Lucy  Barbour  Lane,  spent 
his  early  life  on  the  farm.  On  August  28,  1891,  his  26th 
birthday,  he  was  married  to  Mary  Leveria  Stoneburner, 
of  Harbor  Springs,  Mich.  She  was  born  April  n,  1866. 
There  have  been  born  to  them  two  children,  Cecille  May, 
February  21,  1893;  and  Dana  Abrams,  January  16, 
1895;  the  former  died  January  10,  1894.  Mr.  Lane 
for  a  time  engaged  in  the  grocery  business,  in  Hartford. 
Financial  embarrassment  coming  upon  him,  he  was  obliged 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


I23 


to  suspend,  and,  without  attempting  to  arrange  with  his 
creditors,  so  as  to  save  something  for  himself,  he  made 
an  assignment  in  bankruptcy,  and  turned  all  his  property 
over  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors.  At  the  meeting  of 
the  creditors  for  the  choice  of  a  trustee,  there  was  such  an 
apparently  honest  showing  by  him  of  his  affairs,  that  he 
was  advised  by  one  of  the  creditors,  who  professed  to 
know  something  of  the  feeling  of  other  creditors,  to  make 
an  offer  of  ten  per  cent.,  as  a  compromise;  but,  he  said, 
"  No,  my  creditors  are  entitled  to  every  dollar  of  my 
estate,  and  they  shall  have  it."  His  wife,  who  had  been 
a  considerable  financial  loser  in  the  mercantile  venture, 
joined  with  him  in  the  declaration,  with  the  result  that  the 
creditors  received  42  cents  on  the  dollar,  on  the  closing  up 
of  the  estate. 

Afterward  Mr.  Lane  clerked  it  for  a  while  in  Rockville, 
then  was  connected  with  Talcott  Brothers,  in  Talcottville, 
for  a  time,  then  became  superintendent  of  the  Ellington 
Alms  House;  and,  upon  such  favorable  report  of  his 
reputation  in  that  position  as  was  made,  he  was  applied  to 
to  take  the  position  he  now  occupies,  that  of  superintendent 
of  the  Town  Home,  in  New  Britain.  Without  his  knowl- 
edge, I  copy  from  the  HARTFORD  COURANT  of  June  4th, 
from  a  report  of  an  examination  of  that  institution,  con- 
ducted by  the  Mayor,  the  Chanty  Commissioners,  and  a 
large  delegation  from  the  Common  Council,  these  words: 
"  They  found  the  institution  conducted  in  admirable  shape 
by  Supt.  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Lane.  They  were  all  much 
pleased  with  the  trip,  and  everything  about  the  building 
was  neat  and  wholesome.  .  .  .  The  visitors  went  all 
through  the  home,  and  the  inspection  was  a  thorough  one." 
Mr.  Lane  is  an  honest  man,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  there 
being  any  graft  scandal  connected  with  any  official  position 
he  may  occupy. 

Mr.  Lane  is  an  Odd  Fellow,  a  member  of  a  lodge  in 
Hartford. 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

PLUMA  BARBOUR. 

On  November  8,  1848,  she  was  married  to  Samuel 
Douglas  Garrett,  of  New  Hartford,  Conn,  (the  family 
now  spell  the  name  with  the  addition  of  an  e).  He  was 
born  February  8,  1818.  They  first  resided  in  Ohio,  then 
in  Iowa,  and  afterward  in  Maryland.  There  were  born 
to  them  five  children,  Joseph  Warren,  January  28,  1850; 
John  Frank,  January  30,  1852;  Florilla  Naomi,  June  11, 
1855;  Eliza  Jane,  March  23,  1857;  and  Cora  Juliaette, 
June  10,  1859.  The  father  was  a  great  reader,  an  ad- 
mirer of  General  Joseph  Warren,  for  whom  he  named 
his  first-born  child.  He  and  his  wife  were  both  possessed  of 
most  extraordinary  equanimity.  If  there  were  ever  a 
spirit  of  resentment  in  their  minds,  it  was  not  allowed  to 
have  expression;  and,  as  an  honor  to  them,  I  prefer  to 
believe  that  the  absence  of  that  outward  manifestation  was 
due  in  part  to  self-repression.  Their  self-control  was  so 
complete,  I  doubt  if  their  children  can  recall  a  sharp,  cross 
word  of  reproof  ever  received  from  either  parent.  They 
governed  their  children  largely  by  their  quiet,  uniformly 
passionless  example.  How  beautifully  does  such  parental 
conduct  contrast  with  what  is  sometimes  witnessed,  where 
children  are  scolded  and  nagged,  and  thereby  made  very 
unhappy  at  the  time  of  the  administration  of  reproof,  and 
permanently  soured  in  disposition.  Mr.  Garrette  died  in 
Maryland  August  26,  1881,  as  the  result  of  a  severe  com- 
pound fracture  of  his  leg,  resulting,  in  amputation  and 
blood-poisoning.  His  wife  died  in  Ansonia,  Conn.,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1892. 

JOSEPH  WARREN  GARRETTE. 

Joseph  inherits  his  parents'  peaceful  traits.  He  is  as- 
sociated in  business  with  the  Bill  Brothers  Company, 
of  Hartford,  expressmen.  On  April  19,  1877,  he  was 
married  to  Virginia  Redhead,  of  Maryland,  born  Decem- 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


125 


her  25,  1846,  and  they  have  one  child,  Edward  Douglas, 
who  was  born  August  24,  1880,  and  who  was  married  to 
Susan  Walker-  Cowles,  of  Hartford,  on  October  4,  1905. 
They  reside  in  Hartford,  and  have  no  children. 

JOHN  FRANK  GARRETTE. 

He  has  had  a  successful  mercantile  business  career; 
is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Miner,  Read  and  Garrette, 
carrying  on  a  large  business  in  New  Haven.  On  October 
J5»  I^79,  he  was  married  to  Harriet  Harris,  of  South 
Egremont,  Mass.  She  was  born  December  14,  1856;  and 
there  have  been  born  to  them  two  children,  Elizabeth, 
October  6,  1880;  and  Ruth,  February  28,  1890.  Eliza- 
beth was  married  to  Frederick  B.  Ackley,  of  East  Hamp- 
ton, Conn.,  on  January  14,  1903.  He  resides  in  Hartford, 
and  is  connected  in  business  with  his  father-in-law. 

FLORILLA  NAOMI  GARRETTE. 

On  April  5,  1875,  sne  was  married  to  Arthur  Mun- 
son;  they  reside  at  Sound  Beach,  Conn.,  and  have  three 
children,  Mary  Estelle,  born  January  27,  1876;  Rodney 
Earle,  born  March  2,  1878;  and  Myra  Ophelia,  born 
March  5,  1880. 

ELIZA  JANE  GARRETTE. 

On  February  4,  1878,  she  was  married  to  Isaac  W. 
Robinson,  and  the  family  now  reside  in  Worcester,  Mass. 
There  have  been  born  to  them  four  children,  Grace 
Florilla,  May  i,  1879;  Samuel  Franklin,  September  16, 
1881;  Ralph,  July  23,  1884;  and  Cora  Belle,  August 
24,  1886.  On  May  30,  1903,  Grace  was.  married  to 
Harry  W.  Twigg.  On  March  30,  1900,  Samuel  was 
married  to  Daisey  Antoinette  French,  and  they  have  two 
children,  Ernest  Elmer,  born  January  12,  1901;  and 
Pluma  Louise,  born  March  27,  1902. 


126  BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

CORA  JULIAETTE  GARRETTE. 

On  May  28,  1892,  she  was  married  to  Lafayette 
Madison  Gilligan,  of  Monson,  Mass.  They  reside  in 
Milford,  Conn.,  and  have  no  children. 

JULIAETTE  BARBOUR. 

She  was  tall  and  comely  in  figure,  and  inherited  the 
Humphrey  look  and  energy.  She  had  great  business  tact 
and  ability.  In  early  womanhood  she  followed  school 
teaching  till  she  became  disabled  for  it,  by  reason  of 
chronic  spinal  complaint;  and  then,-  after  a  few  years, 
became  bedridden,  and  so  continued  for  twenty-six  years, 
until  her  death.  In  her  intense  suffering  she  always  ex- 
hibited great  fortitude  and  Christian  resignation,  and, 
in  that  way,  was  a  living  sermon  to  all  who  knew  her. 
She  was  never  married. 

SYLVESTER  BARBOUR. 

He  worked  on  the  farm  in  boyhood  and  youth,  except 
while  at  school.  After  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  district 
and  select  schools  of  the  town,  he  was  for  a  time  in  the 
Literary  institution  at  Suffield,  and  finished  his  preparatory 
education  in  Williston  Seminary.  He  began  the  study  of 
law  in  Poughkeepsie  law  school,  and  completed  it  in  the 
office  of  his  brother,  Heman,  in  Hartford,  as  stated  on 
page  9. 

On  November  27,  1860,  he  was  married  to  Frances 
Amelia,  daughter  of  John  Francis  and  Pamelia  J.  (Tul- 
lar)  Collin,  of  Hillsdale,  New  York.  There  were  born 
to  them  six  children,  as  follows:  Lizzie  Laurane,  Septem- 
ber 21,  1861;  Collin  Henry,  July  6,  1863;  Edward 
Humphrey,  May  19,  1867;  Amy  Louise,  September  25, 
1869;  John  Quincy,  January  31,  1874;  and  Frederic 
Ernest,  February  25,  1876;  the  five  last  named,  in 
Ansonia,  and  the  first  named,  in  Hillsdale,  New  York. 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


127 


Four  of  these  children  have  died,  Edward,  February  13, 
1869;  John,  August  15,  1874;  Frederic,  July  19,  1876; 
and  Lizzie,  October  i,  1886.  This  daughter  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  sweet  disposition,  and  had  endeared  herself 
to  her  many  acquaintances;  her  death,  which  followed 
.  a  sad  and  mysterious  invalidism  that  had  continued  for  a 
year  or  two,  occurred  at  her  grandfather's  home  in  Hills- 
dale,  in  the  room  in  which  she  was  born.  Collin  was 
named  for  his  grandfathers  taking  the  surname  of  one 
and  the  Christian  name  of  the  other.  He  is  in  mercantile 
business  in  Hartford.  On  January  25,  1893,  he  was 
married  to  Lena  Louise  Bestor,  of  Hartford,  and  they 
have  one  child,  Francis  Collin,  born  December  3,  1894. 

Amy  I  ouise  graduated  from  the  Hartford  High 
school,  from  Smith  College,  and  from  Yale  College  after 
a  three  years'  post  graduate  course,  receiving  from  Yale 
college  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy.  After  teach- 
ing a  few  years  in  Marietta,  Ohio,  the  last  part  of  the 
time  in  Marietta  College  after  it  beacme  co-educational, 
and  one  year  in  the  Hartford  High  school,  she  became  a 
member  of  Smith  College  faculty,  and  is  Greek  instructor. 
She  spent  several  months  of  1907  in  Greece  and  other 
European  countries,  having  as  a  companion  her  classmate, 
Miss  Minnie  Day  Booth,  Latin  teacher  in  Miss  Lucy 
A.  Barbour's  school. 

The  mother  of  these  children  was  a  gifted  woman, 
literary  in  her  tastes,  fond  of,  and  an  extensive  reader  of 
the  best  works  of  fiction,  having  read  all  of  Scott's  novels 
before  she  was  twelve  years  old.  As  a  letter  and  story 
writer,  her  style  was  felicitous,  and  she  occasionally  con- 
tributed a  pleasing  story  to  a  newspaper  or  magazine.  She 
was  much  interested  in  the  work  of  the  Hartford  branch 
of  the  Connecticut  Children's  Aid  Society;  and  the  last 
work  of  her  pen  was  a  poem,  written  just  before  she  was 
taken  sick,  to  be  read,  and  which  after  her  death  (which 
occurred  February  6,  1905),  was  read,  at  a  meeting  of  the 


I2g  HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

society,   held   on   Valentine   day,   to   raise   funds   for  the 
work  of  the  society. 

Her  parents  and  one  brother  (John),  are  dead;  a 
sister .  (Laurania),  is  the  widow  of  Rev.  John  Braden, 
D.D.,  who  for  33  years  was  president  of  Central  Tennes- 
see College,  Nashville,  a  large  institution  for  the  education 
of  colored  people;  a  brother  (Rev.  Quincy  J.  Collin),  is' 
residing  in  Hopkinton,  Mass.  The  father  of  these  chil- 
dren was  a  life-long  democrat,  an  extensive  political  writer, 
and  for  a  time  a  member  of  Congress,  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  President  Polk. 

ELIZA  NAOMI  BARBOUR. 

She  was  a  woman  of  attractive  personality,  and  at- 
tached to  herself  very  warm  friends.  In  early  woman- 
hood she  taught  school  several  seasons.  In  September, 
1 86 1,  as  he  was  about  to  enlist  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil 
War,  she  was  married  to  Henry  D.  Sexton,  a  son  of  Henry 
G.  and  Clarissa  (Barber)  Sexton.  (Clarissa  was  a 
daughter  of  Sadosa  Barber,  my  father's  first  cousin). 
News  came  to  the  young  wife  in  January,  1862,  that  her 
husband  was  dying  in  camp  at  Annapolis,  Md.,  and  she 
went  on  immediately,  but  he  had  died  and  was  buried 
before  she  reached  there,  and  it  was  too  late  to  locate  his 
grave,  as  the  burial  had  been  hurried. 

On  the  sister  Juliaette  becoming  bedridden,  Eliza  be- 
came her  devoted  attendant,  herself,  not  long  afterward, 
being  prostrated  in  like  manner,  and  so  continued  until 
her  death.  Their  last  years  were  spent  upon  cots  in  a 
private  room  in  the  Hartford  hospital.  Their  years  of 
sad  retirement  were  very  much  brightened  by  the  visits 
and  ministrations  of  many  very  kind  and  sympathetic 
friends.  Eliza  died  there  June  2,  1900,  and  Juliaette, 
December  23,  1891.  Like  Saul  and  Jonathan,  they  "  were 
lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they 
were  not  [long]  divided." 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

I 

EDWARD  PAYSON  BARBOUR. 

In  amiability  and  gentleness  of  manners,  this  brother 
much  resembled  the  brother,  Henry  Stiles.  His  early  life 
was  spent  on  the  farm,  and  in  teaching  in  winter,  this 
continuing  until  1869,  when  he  sold  the  farm  to  Levi 
Gillette.  On  April  5,  1860,  he  was  married  to  Emma 
Jane,  daughter  of  Alonzo  Barbour,  of  Canton.  She  was 
born  February  13,  1840.  There  were  born  to  this  pair 
five  children,  Helen  Pamela,  April  17,  1861;  Frances 
Amelia  (familiarly  called  Minnie),  October  10,  1863; 
Alice  Maud,  November  22,  1872;  Edward  Payson,  Jr., 
November  26,  1877;  and  Henry  Alonzo,  December  24, 
1880.  Helen  and  Frances  were  born  in  Canton.  Frances 
died  May  26,  1870;  and  Henry,  May  20,  1883. 

After  leaving  the  farm  Mr.  Barbour  established  and 
carried  on  a  grocery  business  in  Ansonia,  where  he  then 
resided.  His  three  children,  Alice,  Edward,  Jr.,  and 
Henry  were  born  there.  He  died  there  August  5,  1895, 
and  his  wife,  May  24,  1903. 

HELEN  PAMELA  BARBOUR. 

On  January  i,  1891,  she  was  married  to  William 
L.  L.  Ellis,  of  Ansonia,  a  much  respected  farmer.  There 
have' been  born  to  them  three  children,  Gertrude  Josephine, 
May  26,  1893;  Harold  Barbour,  August  22,  1894;  and 
Ruth  Humphrey,  November  n,  1900. 

ALICE  MAUD  BARBOUR. 

She  graduated  from  the  Ansonia  public  schools,  and 
from  Wellesley  College  in  1893.  She  taught  in  the  public 
schools  in  Ansonia,  six  years  of  the  time  in  the  high  school ; 
and  is  now  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  pursuing  a  special 
course  of  study.  She  is  scholarly  in  her  tastes. 


130 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


EDWARD  PAYSON  BARBOUR,  JR. 

He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  in  Ansonia,  and 
is  carrying  on  the  mercantile  business  established  by  his 
father.  On  September  3,  1902,  he  was  married  to  Agnes 
E.  Hawthorne,  of  Ansonia.  They  have  no  children. 

BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS  OF  HENRY  BAR- 
BOUR. 

They  were  twelve  in  number  (himself  making  thir- 
teen), ten  of  whom  lived  to  adult  years  and  were  married, 
namely,  Seth,  born  in  1788;  Clarinda,  born  in  1789; 
Linda,  born  in  1791 ;  Henry  (above  named),  born  March 
12,  1793;  Thirza,  born  June  I,  1 80 1;.  Susan,  born  June 
29,  1803;  Eliza,  born  March  25,  1806;  Nancy,  born 
January  16,  1808;  Jonathan  Sherman,  born  in  1812,  and 
Harvey,  born  June  24,  1814.  Of  the  thirteen  children 
two,  Abi  and  Abiah,  died  in  infancy,  and  one,  Pluma,  died 
in  her  youth,  just  before  she  was  to  be  married. 

SETH  BARBER. 

He  was  married  three  times,  and  there  were  born  to 
him  several  children.  He  early  settled  on  a  farm  in  York 
State,  and  died  there  suddenly  more  than  fifty  years  ago, 
dropping  dead  in  the  barn  where  he  had  gone  to  feed  his 
cattle. 

CLARINDA  BARBER. 

She  was  born  in  Canton,  and  on  November  1 1,  1807, 
was  married  to  Colonel  Miles  Foote,  who  was  born  in 
Canton  in  March,  1788.  There  were  born  to  them 
in  Canton  children,  as  follows:  Laura,  June  24,  1809; 
Henry,  September  15,  1815;  Lucius,  April  5,  1817; 
Eliza  M.,  March  7,  1823,  and  John  Mills,  February  9, 
1827.  Laura  was  married  to  Augustus  H.  Carrier,  and 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES  j-ji 

they  had  one  child,  Lucy  M.,  born  in  Canton  in  1848. 
Henry  and  John  married  sisters,  the  former,  Lemira 
Woodruff,  in  1836,  and  the  latter,  Savilla  Woodruff,  May 
13,  1851.  Henry  settled  in  Illinois  and  died  there  in 
1886.  John  Mills  latterly  resided  in  West  Hartford, 
Conn.,  where  he  died  June  16,  1899.  His  wife  is  still 
living  there  in  quite  good  health.  Their  only  child  is 
John  Mills,  Jr. 

Col.  Foote  and  all  his  sons  were  extensive  dealers  in 
live  stock,  the  Colonel  being  a  noted  horseback  rider.  At 
the  Canton  Centennial  Celebration  in  1876,  he  rode  at 
the  head  of  the  procession,  and  was  in  the  saddle  most 
of  the  day,  though  then  88  years  old.  He  died  September, 
1878. 

JOHN  MILLS  FOOTE,  JR. 

He  takes  pride  in  the  fact  that  he  was  born  in  Canton, 
that  important  event  in  his  life  having  occurred  January 
12,  1858.  He  has  been  a  resident  in  West  Hartford  many 
years,  and  until  1907,  when  he  declined  a  re-election,  he 
had  been  for  years  a  constable  and  the  tax  collector  in 
that  town.  He  has  been  deputy  sheriff  seventeen  years, 
having  been  first  appointed  by  Sheriff  Preston,  a  democrat, 
though  himself  a  republican;  was  then  appointed  by 
Sheriff  Spaulding  for  four  years,  then  by  Sheriff  Smith  for 
two  terms,  eight  years,  and  in  June,  1907,  by  Sheriff 
Dewey.  As  an  officer  he  is  efficient  and  trustworthy,  as  a 
citizen,  active  and  patriotic. 

On  October  12,  1882,  he  was  married  to  Helen  An- 
netta,  daughter  of  Edward  Stanley,  of  West  Hartford, 
and  there  have  been  born  to  them  three  children,  all  in 
West  Hartford,  Edward  Mills,  October  25,  1885;  Elliott 
Stanley,  April  20,  1889;  and  Helen  Selden,  May  30, 
1892. 

Mr.  Foote  is  a  32d  degree  Mason,  and  his  prominent 
connection  with  the  order  is  thus  shown :  Wyllys  Lodge, 


132 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


No.  99,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.;  Pythagoras  Chapter,  No.  17, 
R.  A.  M.;  Washington  Commandery,  No.  i,  K.  T. ; 
Conn.  Sovereign  Consistory,  S.  P.  R.  S. ;  Sphinx  Temple, 
A.  A.  O.  N.  M.  S. 

LINDA   BARBER. 

She  was  a  woman  of  serene  temper,  was  married  to 
Uriah  Hosford,  long-time  most  highly  respected  deacon 
of  the  Canton  Center  Congregational  Church.  They  had 
no  children.  Her  mother,  Abi  (Merrill)  Barber  (whom 
I  vividly  remember  as  very  fond  of  those  brown  sticks 
of  hoarhound  candy,  and  as  accustomed  to  sit  in  conversa- 
tion, plaiting  and  re-plaiting  her  checkered  pocket  hand- 
kerchief), spent  her  last  years  in  her  family,  and  died 
there  in  1848.  This  mother  was  left  a  widow,  with  a 
large  family  of  small  children,  whom  she  wisely  reared. 
She  was  a  brave  woman,  sometimes  riding  alone  to  Hart- 
ford, eighteen  miles,  on  horseback,  with  her  saddle-bags, 
for  bringing  home  goods.  On  one  occasion,  she  assisted 
in  the  amputation  of  a  man's  arm,  holding  the  vessel  to 
ca{:ch  the  dripping  blood  while  the  doctor  did  his  work. 
That  was  before  the  days  of  anaesthesia,  when  courage 
of  the  highest  quality  was  indispensable. 

THIRZA  BARBER. 

This  sister  of  my  father  was  married  to  Isaac  Barnes, 
a  highly  respected  fanner,  of  New  Hartford,  Conn. 
There  was  born  to  them  one  child,  Eliza  P.,  July  4,  1833. 
She  was  married  to  Alfred  E.  Merrill,  of  New  Hartford, 
May  i,  1853.  There  were  born  to  them  four  children, 
Charles  Alfred,  April  9,  1856;  Ida  Helen,  September  24, 
1858;  Jessie  Eliza,  July  26,  1866;  and  Fannie  Kate, 
November  24,  1870.  These  children  were  married  as 
follows,  Charles  to  Loretta  J.  Mason,  October,  1876;  Ida 
to  Charles  J.  Healey  February  1 1,  1889;  Jessie  to  Stephen 
T.  Kellogg  December  28,  1892 ;  and  Fannie  to  Wilbur  M. 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


133 


Beckwith,  December  20,  1898.  Mr.  Barnes  died  Novem- 
ber 15,  1865,  aged  77  years,  his  wife  died  May,  1887, 
their  daughter,  Eliza,  February  14,  1904,  and  her  husband 
May  5,  1905.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beckwith  reside  in  Nepaug, 
New  Hartford. 

SUSAN  BARBER. 

On  March  2,  1825,  she  was  married  to  Imri  Lester 
Spencer,  who  was  born  April  15,  1803.  She  was  a  quiet 
woman,  a  devoted  wife  and  mother,  finding  her  highest 
joy  in  making  her  home  a  happy  one.  Mr.  Spencer  was 
a  kind  hearted  man,  of  pleasing  manners,  highly  respected, 
much  interested  and  versed  in  public  affairs;  was  first  a 
whig,  then  a  republican,  and  represented  Canton  in  the 
house  in  1847,  his  residence  then  being  in  the  northeast 
part  of  the  town,  on  a  high  elevation,  commanding  an 
extensive,  beautiful  view.  He  there  carried  on  farming, 
and  there  his  children  were  born.  Afterward  for  a  few 
years,  he  resided  in  Bloomfield,  and  there  conducted  a 
general  store,  then  moved  to  Waterbury  and  carried  on 
a  store  there. 

There  were  born  to  this  happy  pair,  six  children,  as 
follows,  Amos  L.,  December  25,  1825;  Susan,  December 
22,  1828;  Hannah,  April  3,  1831;  Jane,  February  16, 
1836;  Imri  A.,  May  3,  1842;  and  Jonathan  Barber 
(named  for  a  brother  of  the  mother),  August  i,  1844; 
Jane  died  January  10,  1839;  and  Jonathan,  October  13, 
1847.  On  September  3,  1852,  the  daughter,  Susan,  was 
married  to  Franklin  C.,  son  of  Chester  Moses,  who  was 
a  brother  of  Chauncey  Moses,  of  North  Canton.  She 
died  January  27,  1853. 

The  father  of  these  children  died  September  5,  1870, 
his  wife,  March  9,  1888,  just  before  the  great  blizzard. 
They  are  buried  in  Canton  Center  cemetery.  A  note- 
worthy incident  connected  with  the  funeral  of  the  latter  is 
that,  while  en  route  for  Canton  by  cars,  they  became  stalled 


]^4  HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

in  snow  drifts,  and  went  back  to  Waterbury  and  waited 
for  the  roads  to  be  opened. 

AMOS  L.  SPENCER. 

He  was  married  to  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  Harvey 
Mills,  of  Canton,  on  April  3,  1849.  She  was  born  Janu- 
ary 15,  1831.  They  resided  for  years  in  Canton,  and 
then  moved  to  Manchester,  Conn.  There  were  children 
as  follows,  Helen  Maria  (adopted),  born  April  7,  1856; 
Susan  Mariam,  born  October  23,  1859;  Hattie  Jane,  born 
February  20,  1861;  and  Marion  May,  born  December 
29,  1865.  (Unmarried.)  Hattie  died  September  28, 
1863;  Susan  died  May  13,  1880.  Helen  was  married  to 
Austin  Henry  Skinner  September  25,  1878.  He  is  highly 
respected,  living  in  South  Manchester,  Conn.  Mr.  Spencer 
died  there  September  20,  1894,  and  his  wife,  June  13, 
1898.  Two  sons,  born  1855  and  1856,  died  in  infancy. 

HANNAH  SPENCER. 

She  is  unmarried  and  resides  in  Waterbury.  She  had 
a  memorable  and  frightful  experience  on  the  evening  of 
February  20,  1848,  when  Amos,  Susan  and  herself  were 
descending  the  winding,  steep  hill  southerly  of  their  house, 
to  make  a  call  upon  a  neighbor,  and  their  horse,  becoming 
frightened,  ran  furiously  and  threw  them  out,  Hannah 
striking  upon  a  rock,  and  receiving  a  serious  compound 
fracture  of  her  limb ;  in  consequence  of  which  injuries  she 
was  confined  for  weeks  before  she  was  able  to  walk. 
Hartford's  distinguished  surgeon,  Doctor  Pinckney  W. 
Ellsworth,  assisted  Doctor  Kasson,  the  family  physician, 
in  the  treatment  of  the  case. 

IMRI  A.  SPENCER. 

He  early  enlisted  in  the  Civil  War,  was  in  Company 
F,  1 4th  Conn.  Volunteers,  of  which  regiment  Dwight 
Morris,  of  Bridgeport,  was  the  first  Colonel,  Adjutant 
Theodore  G.  Ellis,  of  Hartford,  succeeding  him  as 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


135 


Colonel.  Imri  was  wounded  in  the  thigh  December  13, 
1862,  at  Fredericksburg,  Va.;  was  captured  at  Reams 
Station,  Va.,  August  25,  1864;  was  confined  in  Libby, 
Belle  Isle  and  Salisbury  prisons  for  six  months;  and  was 
paroled  at  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina,  February  27, 
1865.  As  prisoner  he  received  the  poor  treatment  usual 
in  Confederate  prisons,  having,  perhaps,  as  he  expresses 
it,  as  good  food  as  the  Confederate  government,  in 
its  straitened  circumstances,  could  spare  from  its  own 
army.  That  regiment  was  in  thirty-three  engagements, 
in  nineteen  of  which  Mr.  Spencer  participated. 

Mr.  Spencer  belongs  to  the  G.  A.  R.,  the  Odd  Fellows 
and  Royal  Arcanum,  and  has  held  official  positions  therein. 
He  has  held  several  important  political  offices  in  Water- 
bury;  is  active  in  church  matters;  and  is  held  in  high  es- 
teem for  his  integrity  and  good  judgment.  He  was  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  in  mercantile  business,  and  is  now 
conducting  there  a  grain  and  feed  business. 

On  December  20,  1865,  he  was  married  to  Christiana 
Whiton,  of  Bloomfield,  who  was  born  September  21, 
1844,  and  there  have  been  born  to  them  two  children, 
Antoinette  Whiton,  April,  1869;  and  Alice  Winifred, 
February  16,  1871;  the  former  died  July,  1871;  Alice 
was  married  on  June  10,  1897,  to  Davis  Rich,  and  to  them 
were  born  two  children,  Josephine  Spencer  and  Evelyn 
Spencer,  aged  now  respectively  three  and  one-half  and  two 
years. 

ELIZA  HARBOUR. 

On  October  25,  1831,  she  was  married  to  Henry  A. 
Adams,  of  Canton,  Conn.  He  was  the  son  of  General 
Ezra  Adams.  They  went  to  Skaneateles,  New  York, 
and  bought  and  settled  upon  a  farm.  To  them  were  born 
two  children,  Emerson*  H.,  March  22,  1838;  and  Ella 
Maria,  June  3,  1847.  Mr.  Adams  died  November  5, 
1856,  his  wife  survived  him  thirty-two  years,  her  death 
occurring  May  I,  1888. 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

EMERSON  H.  ADAMS. 

On  October  2,  1860,  he  was  married  to  Annette  Austin, 
who  was  born  February  25,  1838,  and  to  them  were  born 
three  children,  Warren  Austin,  September  14,  1861; 
Henry  Emerson,'  January  27,  1864;  and  Spencer  Lional, 
June  12,  1870.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams  are  living,  he 
having  succeeded  his  father  on  the  farm ;  and  for  several 
years  past  he  has  been  much  engaged  in  banking  business, 
being  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Skaneateles  Savings 
Bank.  He  is  much  interested  in  church  and  town  matters, 
and  is  highly  esteemed  for  his  good  judgment. 

WARREN  AUSTIN  ADAMS. 

He  is  German  professor  in  Dartmouth  College;  is 
married  and  has  two  children,  Austin  L.,  born  August  27, 
1897;  and  Henry,  born  June  15,  1904. 

HENRY  EMERSON  ADAMS. 

He  is  a  professor  in  a  high  school  in  Maryland. 

SPENCER  LIONAL  ADAMS. 

He  is  a  successful  lawyer  in  Chicago,  and  is  said  to  be 
amassing  wealth. 

ELLA  MARIA  ADAMS. 

This  daughter  was  married  to  Hubbard  W.  Cleave- 
land,  of  Skaneateles,  and  died  March  25,  1901.  Her 
death  brought  a  sore  affliction  upon  that  otherwise  very 
happy  family,  exceptionally  favored  of  heaven. 

NANCY  BARBER. 

On  March  2,  1830,  she  was  married  to  William  Ely 
Brown,  of  Canton,  who  was  born  November  27,  1807, 
and  to  them  were  born  five  children,  namely,  a  daughter, 
August  29,  1832;  Catharine  Eliza,  March  26,  1835; 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


137 


Eliza  Ann,  July  21,  1845;  Sherman  Ely,  May  i,  1847; 
and  a  son,  November  30,  1849.  The  first  named  child 
and  last  named  child  died  at  birth.  Eliza  Ann  died  June 
14,  1846.  Catharine  was  a  pupil  of  mine  in  the  North 
Canton  School.  She  was  a  sedate,  thoughtful,  and  at- 
tractive young  woman.  She  was  married  to  Nelson  J. 
Church  on  March  18,  1862.  Her  death,  which  occurred 
March,  1875,  cast  a  gloom  over  the  community. 

Mr.  Brown  was  the  son  of  Abiel  Brown,  famed  for 
his  genealogical  sketches  of  Canton  families.  There  were 
three  other  sons  of  Abiel,  Selden  H.,  John  and  Elizur  O. ; 
the  father  and  four  sons  long  living  almost  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  each  other.  Abiel  was  the  brother  of  the  father 
of  John  Brown,  of  national  fame. 

William  Ely  was  a  man  of  few,  and  very  deliberately 
spoken  words,  which,  however,  were  always  pertinent. 
Mentally  he  kept  in  close  touch  with  all  public  matters, 
of  religious,  civil,  and  political  interest.  He  was  a  whig, 
then  a  republican,  and  represented  the  town  in  the  house 
in  1865.  I  have  spoken  on  page  49  of  the  novel  custom 
in  the  Canton  Center  Congregational  Church,  of  having, 
as  an  addition  to  the  large  choir,  an  instrumental  accom- 
paniment of  the  bass-viol,  violin 'and  flute,  Mr.  Brown 
playing  on  the  bass-viol.  Such  a  spectacle  today  would 
be  pleasing  to  an  audience.  Mr.  Brown's  wife  died 
October  25,  1879,  and  he  died  July  29,  1895. 

SHERMAN  ELY  BROWN. 

He  was  born  in  Canton,  in  the  house  where  his  par- 
ents had  so  long  lived,  receiving  at  his  christening  a  part 
of  his  father's  name  and  a  part  of  his  mother's  brother's 
name.  He  spent  his  early  life  on  the  paternal  farm; 
since  that  time  he  has  resided  at  Canton  Center  and  in 
Collinsville,  engaged  in  milling  and  feed  business.  He 
has  held  several  town  offices,  and  filled  them  acceptably. 

On  November  26,  1868,  he  was  married  to  Florence 


138  BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

L,  daughter  of  Gaylord  Barber,  of  Canton.  She  is  a 
sister  of  the  Rev.  Clarence  H.  Barber.  There  have  been 
born  to  this  pair  four  children,  Nellie  Catharine,  January 
1 8,  1871;  Kate  Eliza,  December  8,  1874;  William  Gay- 
lord,  August  25,  1879;  and  Estella  Irene,  March  n, 
1893.  William  follows  the  business  of  his  father,  lately 
in  Manchester,  and  now  in  Berlin,  Conn. 

JONATHAN  SHERMAN   BARBER. 

He  was  married  to  Statira  Church.  For  years  he  was 
a  consumptive  invalid,  and  died  from  that  disease  in  June, 
1847,  at"  the  home  of  his  sister,  Susan,  wife  of  Imri  L. 
Spencer.  He  left  no  children.  His  widow  married  Har- 
mon Hamlin,  a  much  respected  man.  They  resided  in  the 
white  Colonial  house,  near  Canton  railroad  depot,  at- 
tractive by  reason  of  its  tall  pillars. 

HARVEY  BARBER. 

On  March  19,  1833,  he  was  married  to  Lorinda  Case, 
sister  of  Uriah.  She  was  born  April  3,  1816.  They 
were  prosperous,  highly  respected  persons;  and  for  several 
years  they  owned  and  carried  on  a  fine  farm  at  North 
Canton.  They  then  moved  to  Collinsville.  There  were 
born  to  them  two  children,  Henrietta,  July  10,  1837;  and 
Willard  J.,  November  21,  1850.  On  June  n,  1855, 
Henrietta  was  married  to  Rollin  O.  Humphrey,  of  Col- 
linsville, and  to  them  were  born  two  children,  the  first 
dying  at  birth,  May  6,  1856,  the  other,  Henry  Rollin, 
died  September  24,  1857,  aged  five  months;  Henrietta 
died  May  8,  1857;  her  father  died  September  14,  and  her 
mother,  October  12,  1859. 

WILLARD  J.  BARBER. 

On  May  8,  1871,  he  was  married  to  Henrietta  Lin- 
coln, who  was  born  February  4,  1851,  and  there  were 
born  to  them  three  children,  Lenore,  March  15,  1873; 


BARBOTR'S    REMINISCENCES 


139 


Jane,  October  21,  1882;  and  Harvey,  January  9,  1883. 
Harvey,  died  September,  1883;  Lenore,  November  4, 
1898,  and  Willard's  wife,  on  April  5,  1908.*  Mr.  Barber 
resided  in  Canton  for  years,  and  worked  for  Collins  Com- 
pany. He  now  resides  at  Ipswich,  Massachusetts. 

BROTHERS   AND   SISTERS   OF  MY   MOTHER. 

In  all,  my  mother's  father  had  fifteen  children,  two  by 
his  first  wife  (Lucy  Case),  namely,  Horace  (who  died 
1855),  and  Solomon  (who  died  1830)  ;  and  thirteen  by 
his  second  wife  {Hannah  Brown),  of  which  latter  number 
my  mother  was  one,  and  four  of  them  died  in  infancy,  — 
the  other  eight  were,  Heman  (see  pages  48,  56  and  71)  ; 
Lucy,  (born  1781,  married  Jason  Squires  and  died  1809)  ; 
Luther,  a  clergyman  (born  1783,  twice  married,  left  no 
children;)  Clarinda,  (born  1789,  married  Harvey  Web- 
ster, of  Farmington,  had  one  child,  Candace,  whose 
daughter  is  the  wife  of  Asa  L.  Case,  son  of  Levi,  residing 
in  the  house  in  which  Levi  lived  and  died)  ;  Candace, 
(born  1792,  unmarried)  ;  Hannah,  '(wife  of  Alson  Bar- 
ber, see  page  56)  ;  Electa,  (born  1799,  married  Sidney 
Hart,  of  Burlington,  left  no  children)  ;  and  Harriet,  (born 
1802,  unmarried) . 


COLLATERAL  RELATIVES  OF 
HENRY  BARBOUR 


SADOSA  BARBER. 

He  was  the  first  cousin  of  my  father;  was  the  son  of 
Reuben,  whose  body  was  the  first  buried  in  Canton  Center 
cemetery.  Reuben  was  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and 
when  he  came  home  at  the  close  of  the  war  his  pay  is 
said  to  have  consisted  of  a  fifty  dollar  bill  of  Continental 
currency.  It  proved  to  have  no  value;  and  sometime 
afterward  he  lighted  his  pipe  with  it. 

Sadosa  was  born  January  31,  1781,  and  on  February 
4,  1 802  he  was  married  to  Sarah  Cleveland,  who  was  born 
August  8,  1784,  and  who  was  first  cousin  of  Governor 
Chauncey  F.  Cleveland,  and  sixth  cousin  to  President 
Grover  Cleveland.  There  were  born  to  Sadosa  and  Sarah 
ten  children,  Melissa,  April  3,  1803;  Sterling  /.,  June  30, 
1804;  Ansel  S.,  July  8,  1806;  Sophronia,  July  23,  1808; 
Clarissa,  February  n,  1811;  Fannie  L.,  September  4, 
1818;  Fanny  E.}  February  14,  1820;  Lucius  L.,  July  17, 
1822;  Jasper  E.,  August  n,  1824;  and  Henry  Martin, 
December  14,  1832.  Fanny  L.  died  in  infancy,  on  May 
17,  1819. 

The  other  children  were  married,  as  follows,  Melissa, 
to  David  Lane  in  1831 ;  Sterling  to  Pluma  P.  Mills;  Ansel 
to  Mary  Chapman;  Sophronia,  to  Samuel  Victor  Wood- 
bridge;  Clarissa  to  Henry  G.  Sexton;  Fannie  E.,  to  James 
Clark;  Lucius  to  Celia  Chapman;  Jasper  E.,  to  Marie  P. 
Bowers;  and  Henry  to  Melissa  E.  Lee  on  February  15, 
1854.  Jasper's  wife  was  the  sister  of  Chester  A.  Bowers, 
longtime  popular  merchant  tailor,  on  Asylum  street,  Hart- 
ford, who  was  born  in  Collinsville  in  1815,  and  died  in 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

Hartford  June  23,  1884.  He  was  one  of  the  very  politest 
persons  I  ever  knew;  often  in  conversation,  particularly  in 
his  business,  repeating  the  word  "  Sir,"  with  the  accom- 
paniment of  a  bow,  not  only  of  his  head  but  of  his  body. 
Sadosa  died  November  25,  1860,  and  his  wife,  March  7, 
1861.  Melissa  died  May  3,  1891;  Sterling,  May  19, 
1878;  Ansel,  March  22,  1875;  Sophronia,  September  21, 
1891;  Clarissa,  December  15,  1867;  Fanny  E.,  January 
29,  1883;  Lucius,  October  18,  1868;  and  Jasper,  March 

22,    1872. 

HENRY   M.   BARBOUR. 

He  is  the  only  one  living  of  that  large  family  of 
children,  his  wife  is  also  living,  and  they  are  residing  in 
the  house  in  which  he  was  born.  To  them  have  been  born 
six  children,  Wilbur  H.,  November  15,  1854;  George  I., 
June  1 6,  1859;  Lillian  A.,  December  9,  1861;  Ella  A., 
November  16,  1864;  Arthur  H.,  August  22,  1871;  and 
Emma  J.,  November  20,  1874.  Wilbur  died  June  2, 
1860;  Lillian,  September  25,  1863;  Arthur,  February 
22,  1873;  Emma,  August  19,  1895. 

George  was  married,  first,  to  Emma  J.  Bidwell,  and, 
secondly,  to  Bessie  H.  Buckingham;  Ella  was  married  to 
William  H.  Chapin;  Emma  was  married  to  Arthur  G. 
Sisson. 

Mr.  Barbour  has  held  the  offices  of  Constable,  As- 
sessor, member  board  of  relief,  selectman  and  was  in  the 
house  in  1880. 

David  Lane,  who  was  married  to  Melissa  Barber,  was 
born  November  8,  1799,  and  died  May  4,  1839.  He  and 
Melissa  first  met  while  she  was  acting  as  housekeeper  for 
Samuel  W.  Collins,  and  he  was  boarding  in  the  family. 
It  is  said  that  he  was  the  eighth  man  employed  by  Collins 
Company ;  also,  that  he  set  out  the  present  large  elm  trees 
on  the  Collinsville  Church  green,  while  he  was  working 
for  the  Company.  There  were  born  to  David  and  Melissa 


142 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


three  children,  David  Frank,  February  29,  1832;  Rollin 
Dwight,  April  8,  1834;  and  Fanny  Lucretia,  who  is  now 
the  widow  of  Calvin  Pike.  Frank  was  married  to  Anna 
Cromack,  and  they  had  three  children.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War  he  offered  his  services  to  his  country; 
was  for  a  time  stationed  as  guard  at  the  Arsenal  in  Hart- 
ford; then  worked  at  recruiting  for  Colonel  Colt's  regi- 
ment (which  the  government  saw  fit  not  to  accept,  with 
the  Colonel's  proposed  mode  of  arming  it)  and  finally  he 
became  a  member  of  the  fifth  Conn,  regiment,  volun- 
teers, being  made  captain  of  Co.  D,  and  was  afterward 
promoted  to  the  position  of  major.  He  died  many  years 
ago. 

ROLLIN  DWIGHT  LANE. 

His  life  has  been  a  strenuous  one,  he  having  had  to 
earn  every  dollar  he  ever  received.  He  was  five  years 
old  when  his  father  died,  and,  his  mother  being  poor,  he 
was  put  out  to  service  with  farmers  when  he  was  seven 
years  old,  his  first  wages  being  six  cents  a  day.  He 
worked  some  of  the  time  for  Elam  Case,  whom  he  con- 
siders one  of  the  best  men  that  ever  lived.  One  incident 
in  his  experience  with  that  man  is  mentioned  on  page  33. 
He  relates  two  others,  that  show  the  big  heart  and  blunt 
manner  of  that  man. 

While  Melissa  and  her  children  were  living  near  him, 
she  went  to  him  one  day,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  sell 
her  a  bushel  of  potatoes.  She  was  greatly  taken  back  by 
his,  "  No,  Mrs.  Lane,  I  won't  sell  you  a  bushel  of  pota- 
toes." After  giving  her  a  little  time  to  rally  from  the 
shock,  he  said  to  her,  "  You  and  your  boy  may  go  out  into 
the  lot  and  dig  and  put  in  your  cellar  enough  to  last  you 
through  the  winter."  On  the  other  occasion,  a  farmer, 
whom  he  didn't  know,  applied  to  him  to  borrow  a  hundred 
dollars,  for  buying  a  yoke  of  oxen.  He  talked  with  the 
man  in  his  gruff  way,  to  find  out  something  about  him, 
and  finally  he  said,  "  Let  me  see  your  hands."  On  finding 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

that  his  calloused  palms  were  proof  that  he  was  a  hard 
working  man,  he  said  to  him,  "  Yes,  I'll  lend  you  the 
money." 

On  October  27,  1858,  Rollin  was  married  to  Julia 
Smith  Miner.  Their  son,  Arthur  Miner,  born  October 
18,  1859,  is  a  successful  osteopathic  physician  in  Boston. 
The  doctor  is  married  and  has  a  daughter,  Madge  Ada, 
wife  of  Burr  Pierce  of  New  Haven. 

Rollin  is  a  republican,  has  always  been  a  very  active 
political  worker;  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
Fremont.  W'hile  residing  in  Collinsville,  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  town  committee  from  1858  to  1874,  then  be- 
came a  member  of  the  State  Central  Committee.  He  left 
Collinsville  in  1877  and  resides  in  Hartford.  He  was 
U.  S.  mail  agent  on  the  Connecticut  Western  railroad 
for  more  than  fifteen  years,  and  was  Superintendent  of  the 
old  North  Cemetery,  Hartford,  about  ten  years.  Though 
nearly  seventy-five  years  old,  he  is  vigorous,  and  capable 
of  active  service. 

MARY   BARBER. 

This  woman  was  a  not  very  distant  cousin  of  my 
father,  being  the  daughter  of  Giles,  and  granddaughter 
of  Dr.  Samuel  Barber,  spoken  of  on  page  56.  She  was 
the  sister  of  Jesse  (page  31,)  Linus,  Volney  G.,  and  Mrs. 
Selden  White  (page  77).  Her  father  was  prominent 
in  Canton  affairs.  She  was  born  June  5,  1803.  On 
January  i,  1829,  she  was  married  to  Noah  Russell 
Lynan  Bristol,  who  was  born  June  9,  1797.  There  were 
born  to  them  four  children,  Volney  R.,  December  22, 
1829;  Kezia  M.,  November  5,  1832;  Burton  H.,  Septem- 
ber 26,  1835  ;  and  Anson  W.,  June  9,  1840.  Volney  and 
Burton  never  married,  the  former  died  August,  1887, 
the  latter,  February  6,  1872.  Mr.  Bristol  died  Septem- 
ber 8,  1861,  and  his  wife  September  4,  1887. 

On  February  20,  1853,  Kezia  was  married  to  George 


144 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


L.  White,  a  brother  of  Ruel  O.,  a  well  known  and  much 
respected  man,  who  resided  in  Barkhamsted,  on  "  Rat- 
lem  "  hill,  when  I  first  knew  him,  and  afterward  in  Pleas- 
ant Valley,  near  North  End,  New  Hartford;  and  in  the 
latter  period  he  represented  Barkhamsted  in  the  House,  in 
1 86 1.  George  died  July,  1904.  There  were  born  to 
him  and  Kezia  four  children,  Julia,  Edgar,  Jessie  and 
Herman,  all  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  White  now 
resides  in  Bristol,  Conn. 

Mr.  Bristol  was  highly  honored  by  his  fellow  citizens, 
holding  the  office  of  town  clerk  for  twenty  years,  and 
represented  the  town  in  the  legislature  in  1835.  I  re- 
member him  and  his  wife  as  dignified  in  bearing,  and  they 
were  among  the  persons  I  had  in  mind  as  former  residents, 
when  reciting  the  Poem  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  on 
July  1 8,  1906. 

ANSON  W.   BRISTOL. 

He  is  a  farmer,  owning  and  residing  on  the  farm  for- 
merly belonging  to  Oliver  Bidwell,  'situated  a  little  west- 
erly of  Cherry  Brook  railroad  station.  He  is  very  promi- 
nent in  town  affairs,  held  the  office  of  town  clerk,  1875- 
1886,  has  held  other  town  offices,  and,  when  lot  designates 
him  for  jury  duty,  creditably  performs  that  service  in  the 
different  courts  in  Hartford.  He  was  a  respected  pupil 
of  mine  the  two  winters  I  taught  in  the  "  Conference 
house." 

On  November  i,  1860,  he  was  married  to  Sarah  E. 
Williams,  and  there  have  been  born  to  them  twelve  chil- 
dren, as  follows;  Minnie  E.,  September  13,  1861;  Burton 
E.,  January  29,  1863;  Burton  Noah,  November  9,  1864; 
Mortimer  L.,  December  29,  1866;  Anson  W.,  Jr.,  April 
25,  1871;  Mary  M.,  August  27,  1873;  Helen  B.,  May 
21,  1878;  Roscoe  C.,  and  Ruby  S.  (twins),  September  23, 
1880;  Christa  E.,  December  25,  1885;  Sterling  W.,  Octo- 
ber 20,  1887;  and  Catharine  Barber,  January  22,  1890. 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

Burton  E.  died  February  15,  1865;  and  Ruby,  February 
12,   1882. 

No  apology  is  needed  for  reporting  such  a  splendid 
compliance  with  the  scriptural  injunction,  given  to  the 
original  pair,  "  Be  Fruitful,  and  Multiply."  "One  might 
well  lament,  as  does  President  Roosevelt,  that  so  many 
families  are  childless,  and  might  well  exclaim,  Oh !  the 
loss  in  many  ways  to  that  household  in  which  there  is  not 
a  child! 

S.  B. 

HARTFORD,  June  25,  1908. 


APPENDIX 


As  the  foregoing  sketches  are  dedicated  to  the  Phoebe 
Humphrey  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  Collinsville  branch,  I  follow  the  sketches 
with  a  copy  of  the  Chapter's  Catalogue,  containing  the 
By-Laws  of  the  Chapter,  names  of  the  Officers  and 
Members,  and  other  interesting  information. 


This  house,  built  by  Benj.  Dyer  in  1747,  now  known  as  the  Page  House,  occupied  by 
L.  D.  Dowd,  is  conceded  by  the  best  authorities  to  be  the  oldest  house  in  Canton,  now  standing. 
The  site  of  a  house  built  a  little  earlier,  and  known  as  the  Richard  Case  House,  may  still  be 
seen  opposite  the  house  lately  occupied  by  John  Case,  deceased. 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


Daughters 


149 


OF   THE 


American    Revolution 


PHOEBE  HUMPHREY  CHAPTER 


Connecticut  Chapter,  No.  46 
National  Chapter,  No.  686 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


BY-LAWS 

OF    THE 

Phoebe  Humphrey  Chapter, 

DAUGHTERS 

OF   THE 

AMERICAN  REVOLUTION 

Organized  January  jo,  1905. 


Connecticut  Chapter,  No.  46 
National  Chapter,   No.  686 


COLLINSVILLE,   CONN. 


BY-LAH'S    A  DO  PT  ED-tqos 


152  HARBOUR'S   REMINISCENCES 


1905-1906 
STATE   REGENT, 

MRS.  SARA  THOMSON  KINNEY. 


STATE   VICE-REGENT, 

MRS.  TRACY  BRONSON  WARREN. 

HONORARY  STATE  REGENTS  FOR  LIFE, 

MRS.  WILLIAM  M.  OLCOTT, 
Norwich. 

MRS.  ELIZABETH  ROGERS  SMITH, 
Hartford. 


MRS.  SARA    THOMSON    KINNEY 

State  Regent  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  of  the  State  of  Connecticut. 


MRS.  J.  B.  LOUGEE 

Regent  of  the  Phosbe  Humphrey  Chapter  of 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  of 
Collinsville,  Conn. 


MRS.  D.  T.  DYER 

Organizing  Regent  of  the  Phoebe  Humphrey 
Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  of  Collinsville,  Conn. 


PHCEBE   HUMPHREY  HOUSE,   CANTOX. 
(See  page  154  for  explanatory  note.) 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


153 


CHAPTER  OFFICERS 

ELECTED    1905 


Regent, 
MRS.  D.  T.  DYER. 

F  ice-Re  gent, 
MRS.  J.  B.  LOUGEE.  . 

Recording  Secretary, 
MRS.  C.  H.  SMITH. 

Corresponding  Secretary, 
Miss  SARA  DYER. 

Registrar, 
MRS.  G.  A.  LATIMER. 

Treasurer, 
MRS.  I.  W.  HAVENS. 

• 

Historian, 
MRS.  F.  P.  SWEZEY. 

Board  of  Management, 

MRS.  W.  W.  HUNTLEY,  MRS.  Z.  J.  HINMAN, 

MRS.  E.  J.  LATIMER,  MRS.  G.  A.  CODAIRE, 

MRS.  WESTON  BARNES. 


154 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


PHCEBE  HUMPHREY,  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Humph- 
rey and  Prudence  Mills,  was  born  in  1763  in  the  town 
of  Canton,  Conn.  The  record  states  that  her  father, 
commonly  called  "  Master  Sam,"  "  taught  school  and 
wrote  much."  The  record  also  states  that  he  was  lame, 
which  physical  infirmity  doubtless  prevented  him  from 
enlisting  in  the  army. 

We  know  comparatively  little  of  her  life.  Three 
times  she  passed  through  the  sorrows  of  widowhood. 
Her  first  husband  was  Abisha  Forbes,  of  Canton,  of  which 
marriage  a  grandson,  Bleeker  Forbes,  survives  and  is  now 
residing  in  Collinsville.  She  is  described  as  a  woman  of 
fine  physique  and  more  than  ordinary  courage.  Tradition 
says  that  just  after  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga, 
some  of  the  British  troops,  including  Hessians,  on  their 
way  to  Boston,  passed  through  "  Canton  Street "  and 
stopped  for  rest  near  the  home  of  Phoebe  Humphrey 
Forbes.  One  of  the  men,  a  Hessian,  came  to  her  door 
and  seeing  her  about  to  take  bread  out  of  the  oven,  de- 
manded a  loaf,  which  she  promptly  refused,  emphasizing 
her  words  with  a  motion  of  the  shovel  in  her  hand.  It 
is  said  that  an  officer  coming  along  just  then,  saw  the  man's 
danger  and  advised  him  to  come  away. 

The  house  in  which  Phoebe  Humphrey  lived  near 
Canton  Street,  is  now  standing.  She  died  in  Berlin, 
Conn.,  at  the  home  of  her  son-in-law,  Mr.  Albert  Hurlbert, 
on  February  20,  1848,  at  the  age  of  85,  and  was  buried  in 
Canton. 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


155 


PHOEBE  HUMPHREY  CHAPTER, 

D.  A.  R., 

COLLINSVILLE,  CONNECTICUT. 
Organized  January  30,  1905. 


OFFICERS. 

Elected  December  14,  f<jo6. 
REGENT,  VICE-REGENT, 

MRS.  J.  B.  LOUGEE,  MRS.  I.  W.  HAVENS, 

SECRETARY,  COR.  SECRETARY, 

MRS.  Z.  J.  HINMAN,  MISS  JOSEPHINE  HARBOUR, 

REGISTRAR,  HISTORIAN, 

MRS.  G.  A.  LATIMER,  MRS.  J.  P.  HOSFORD, 

TREASURER, 

MRS.  W.  W.   HUNTLEY. 


ADVISORY   BOARD, 

MRS.  J.  B.  FLINT,  MRS.  HERBERT  HOLT, 

MRS.  C.  H.  SMITH,  MRS.  J.  A.  NORTH, 

MRS.  B.  F.  CASE. 


156  BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


BY-LAWS 

ARTICLE  I. 

Name. 

The  name  of  this  Chapter  shall  be  the  Phoebe  Humphrey  Chap- 
ter, Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Object. 

This  Chapter  is  formed  under  and  in  accordance  with  Article 
VII  of  the  Constitution  of  the  National  Society,  D.  A.  R.,  and 
has  for  its  object,  not  only  to  honor  the  heroic  men  and  women 
of  the  Revolution,  but  to  cultivate  and  perpetuate  their  spirit  of 
patriotism,  to  elucidate  their  personal  history  and  heroism,  to 
encourage  historical  research  in  relation  to  the  Revolution  and 
publication  of  its  results;  to  acquire,  preserve,  and  mark  historic 
spots;  to  foster  true  patriotism  and  love  of  country,  and  to  carry 
out  the  injunction  of  Washington  in  his  farewell  address  to  the 
people :  "  To  promote,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance,  in- 
stitutions for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge,"  thus  developing 
an  enlightened  public  opinion,  and  affording  to  young  and  old 
such  advantages  as  shall  develop  in  them  the  largest  capacity  for 
performing  the  duties  of  American  citizens. 

ARTICLE  III. 

Government. 

This  Chapter  shall  be  governed  by  the  Constitution  and  By- 
Laws  of  the  National  Society  of  which  each  Daughter  is  a 
member. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Membership. 

SECTION  I.  Any  woman  having  the  qualifications  required 
for  membership  in  the  National  Society  and  endorsed  by  the  Local 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


157 


Board  of  Management,  (who  shall  vote  by  ballot),  shall  be  con- 
sidered eligible  for  membership  in  the  Chapter. 

SEC.  2.  Persons  desiring  to  become  members  of  this  Chapter 
must  be  introduced  by  a  Chapter  member  either  personally  or  by 
note  to  the  Registrar,  who  shall  then  present  the  name  to  the 
Board  of  Management  at  its  next  meeting.  If  accepted,  applica- 
tion blanks  will  be  sent  to  the  applicant. 

SEC.  3.  These  blanks  must  be  filled  out  in  duplicate  and 
each  one  must  be  signed  by  a  member  of  the  National  Society,  who 
shall  vouch  for  the  acceptability  of  the  applicant. 

They  must  then  be  returned  to  the  Registrar  accompanied  by 
the  entrance  fee  and  the  dues  for  the  current  year.  If  elected  the 
application  blanks  must  be  signed  by  the  Regent,  Secretary  and 
Registrar,  and  by  the  latter  transmitted  to  Registrar  General  for 
the  approval  of  the  National  Board  of  Management.  The  appli- 
cant will  be  notified  by  the  Registrar  of  the  action  taken  upon  her 
papers. 

SEC.  4.  A  member  transferred  from  another  Chapter  shall 
be  received  upon  presenting  to  the  Registrar  a  transfer  card  signed 
by  the  Regent,  Treasurer,  and  Registrar  of  the  Chapter  of  which 
she  is  a  member  in  good  and  regular  standing  and  a  copy  of  her 
duplicate  paper. 

ARTICLE  V. 
Fees. 

SECTION  i.  The  regular  admission  fees  and  dues  shall  be  as 
follows:  One  dollar  admission  fee,  and  two  dollars  and  twenty- 
five  cents  annual  dues,  payable  in  advance  on  or  before  the  2d  of 
January  of  each  year,  of  which  the  admission  fee  and  such  part 
of  the  annual  dues  as  is  required  by  the  National  Society  shall  be 
sent  to  the  Treasurer  General  at  least  six  weeks  before  the  next 
ensuing  Continental  Congress,  and  twenty-five  cents  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Connecticut  Utility  fund.  Any  member  who 
shall  remain  in  arrears  for  dues  for  three  months  after  notice  of 
her  indebtedness  has  been  sent  to  her  by  the  Treasurer,  may  be 
dropped  from  the  list  of  members  of  the  Chapter,  by  a  majority 
vote  of  the  Board  of  Management,  provided  that  no  one  shall 
be  dropped  until  after  two  notices  of  arrears,  one  month  apart, 
shall  have  been  given  her. 


j^g  HARBOUR'S,  REMINISCENCES 

SEC.  2.  The  sum  of  $3.25  covering  the  initiation  fees  and 
the  annual  for  the  current  year,  must  accompany  each  application 
presented  to  the  Chapter.  Any  member  whose  papers  are  accepted 
by  the  National  Society  on  or  after  August  22d  in  any  year, 
shall  not  be  required  to  pay  dues  again  until  a  year  from  the  suc- 
ceeding January. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
Officers. 

The  officers  of  the  Chapter  shall  be  a  Regent,  Vice-Regent, 
Recording  and  Corresponding  Secretary,  Treasurer,  Registrar, 
and  a  Historian,  all  of  whom,  with  five  other  members  who  hold 
no  office,  shall  constitute  a  Board  of  Management,  to  be  elected 
at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Chapter  to  be  held  the  second  meet- 
ing in  December  of  each  year.  The  officers  shall  be  elected  by 
ballot  and  shall  hold  office  for  two  years.  No  person  shall  hold 
more  than  one  office  at  the  same  time.  No  person  shall  be  eligible 
to  the  same  office  more  than  two  years  consecutively,  except  the 
Registrar  and  Historian. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
Duties  of  the  Officers. 

SECTION  i.  The  Regent  shall  be  the  official  head  of  the 
Chapter,  and  the  other  officers  shall  take  rank  after  her  as 
enumerated  in  Article  VI.  She  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of 
the  Chapter  and  shall  sign  all  bills,  orders,  and  drafts  on  the 
Treasurer. 

SEC.  2.  The  Vice-Regent  shall  perform  the  duties  of  the 
Regent  in  her  absence. 

SEC.  3.  The  Recording  Secretary  shall  record  all  proceedings 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Chapter  and  of  the  Board  of  Management. 
Shall  notify  officers  of  their  election  and  committees  of  their  ap- 
pointments. She  shall  prepare  the  annual  report,  a  copy  of  which 
she  shall  send  to  the  State  Regent,  and  shall  perform  any  other 
duties  pertaining  to  her  office. 

SEC.  4.  The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  conduct  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  Chapter;  shall  retain  copies  of  all  letters 
written,  and  keep  on  file  all  communications  received  by  her;  she 
shall  notify  members  of  special  meetings  of  the  Chapter,  at  least 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


159 


three  days  before  such  meetings  are  to  be  held,  and  shall  perform 
such  other  duties  as  the  Board  of  Management  may  direct.  She 
shall  also  notify  Corresponding  Secretary  General  of  the  election 
and  appointment  of  all  officers  and  delegates  and  shall  send  a 
duplicate  copy  of  such  notification  to  the  State  Regent. 

SEC.  5.  The  Treasurer  shall  receive  the  initiation  fees,  dues 
for  membership,  and  all  other  moneys  belonging  to  the  Chapter, 
and  pay  all  bills  approved  by  the  Regent  or  by  the  Vice-Regent, 
if  the  Regent  be  unable  to  act.  She  shall  keep  an  account  of  re- 
ceipts and  expenditures  and  submit  the  same  to  the  Auditing 
Committee  once  a  year  before  the  annual  meeting.  She  shall 
notify  members  who  are  in  arrears,  and  forward  to  the  Treasurer 
General  the  amount  of  the  initiation  fee,  and  such  part  of  the 
annual  dues  as  is  required  by  the  National  Society,  when  an  ap- 
plication is  sent  to  the  Registrar  General.  She  shall  also  send  to 
the  Treasurer  General  before  the  22d  of  February  each  year,  the 
amount  required  for  each  member  of  the  Chapter,  and  a  report  of 
the  same  to  the  State  Regent. 

SEC.  6.  The  Registrar  shall  receive  and  examine  all  applica- 
tions for  membership,  and  when  endorsed  by  the  Regent  and  Secre- 
tary, forward  the  same  to  the  Registrar  General  with  a  duplicate 
copy  to  be  returned  to  the  Registrar.  She  shall  also  keep  a  record 
of  the  names  and  dates  of  the  election,  resignation,  transference, 
or  death  of  the  members  of  the  Chapter  and  transmit  to  the  State 
Regent  a  duplicate  of  the  record.  She  shall  have  the  care  and 
custody  of  all  duplicates  after  their  acceptance  by  the  National 
Board. 

SEC.  7.  The  Historian  shall  have  the  custody  of  all  historical 
and  biographical  collections  of  which  this  Chapter  may  become 
possessed;  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  historical  and  commemorative 
meetings,  and  prepare,  or  cause  to  be  prepared,  such  historical 
papers  as  this  Chapter  shall  require. 

SEC.  8.  The  Board  of  Management  shall  consider  and  formu- 
late current  business  and  fill  any  vacancies  which  may  occur  in 
office  until  the  next  annual  meeting;  shall  judge  of  the  qualifica- 
tions of  applicants  for  admission,  when  presented  by  the  registrar, 
and  elect  the  same  by  ballot;  arrange  for  entertainments  and  in 
general  do  all  in  its  power  for  the  prosperity  and  success  of  the 
Chapter.  The  regular  meetings  of  the  Board  may  be  held  a  half 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

hour  previous  to  the  regular  meetings  of  the  Chapter.  Five  shall 
constitute  a  quorum  of  the  Board.  Special  meetings  of  the  Board 
may  be  called  by  the  Regent,  Vice-Regent,  or  Recording  Secre- 
tary, upon  written  request  of  three  of  its  members. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Order  of  Business. 

1.  Roll  Call. 

2.  Reading  and  approval  of  minutes  of  previous  meeting. 

3.  Reports  of  officers  and  committees. 

4.  Unfinished  business. 

5.  New  business. 

6.  Miscellaneous  business. 

7.  Program  of  the  Day. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

Guests. 

Husbands  of  members,  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  and 
members  of  other  Chapters  may  be  invited  to  participate  in  the 
social  events  of  the  Chapter. 

ARTICLE  X. 

Amendments. 

The  By-Laws  may  be  amended  at  any  meeting,  written  notice 
of  the  proposed  change  having  been  submitted  at  a  previous 
meeting. 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


CHARTER  MEMBERS 


1.  MRS.  D.  T.  DYER 

(nee   Hattie   M.   Case). 

2.  Miss  SARAH  DYER 

3.  MRS.  B.  F.  CASE 

(nee  Mary  Higley). 

4.  MRS.  G.  A.  CODAIRE. 

(nee  Jennie  L.  Hotchkiss). 

5.  MRS.  Z.  J.  HINMAN 

(nee    M.   Jennie    Hinman). 

6.  MRS.  F.  P.  SWEZEY 

(nee  Pauline  Smith). 

7.  MRS.  I.  W.  HAVENS 

(nee  Cora  Wolcott). 

8.  MRS.  J.  B.  LOUGEE 

(nee  Sarah  L.  Rice). 

9.  MRS.  G.  A.  LATIMEB 

(nee  Sara  J.  Lougee). 

10.  MRS.  J.  HINMAN 

(nee  Pluma  Rice). 

11.  MRS.  WESTON  BARNES 

(nee  Charlotte  Marquis). 

12.  Miss  BESSIE  WINIFRED  BARNES 

13.  Miss  LOUISE  M.  HOTCHKISS 

14.  MRS.  E.  J.  LATIMER 

(nee   Emma   Monks). 

15.  Miss  EDNA  GENEVIEVE  FARNHAM 

1 6.  Miss  HARRIET  C.  DYER 

17.  MRS.  C.  H.  SMITH 

(nee  Mary  Priscilla  Barker), 
ii 


I  62  HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

1 8.  MRS.  C. 'A.  HART 

(nee   Inez  M.  Case). 

19.  MRS.  W.  W.  HUNTLEY 

(nee  Emma  Rice). 

20.  MRS.  W.  A.  RICE 

(nee   Claribel   Hinman). 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 


NEW  MEMBERS 


21.  Miss  JOSEPHINE  A.  BARBOUR 

22.  MRS.  S.  H.  DOWD 

(nee  Florence  Barnes). 

23.  MRS.  J.  P.  HOSFORD 

(nee  Hattie  Wright). 

24.  MRS.  J.  A.  NORTH 

(nee  Anetta  Philura  Drake). 

25.  MRS.  H.  S.  HOLT 

(nee  Alice  May  North). 

26.  MRS.  E.  H.  BANCROFT 

(nee  Bessie  Hotchkiss  Codaire). 

27.  .Miss  MINNIE  ROBINSON  CODAIRE 

28.  MRS.  E.  E.  CLARK 

(nee  May  Hinman). 

29.  MRS.  T.  S.  BIDWELL 

(nee  Hattie  Hinman). 

30.  MRS.  I.  C.  DAVIS 

(nee  Grace  C.  Bidwell). 

31.  MRS.  J.  B.  FLINT 

(nee  Harriet  Lucinda  Blair). 

32.  MRS.  F.  M.  BUTLER 

(nee  Emily  Marilla  Webster). 

33.  MRS.  HERBERT  BARNES 

(nee  Edna  Leona  Butler). 

34.*  MRS.  O.  F.  PERRY 

(nee  Laura  Latimer). 

35.  MRS.  C.  J.  Fox 

(nee  Julia  F.  Cannon). 

36.  MRS.  ISAAC  BARNES 

(nee  Nellie  M.  Smith). 


164 


HARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

37.  MRS.  B.  O.  HIGLEY 

(nee  Emma  J.  Woodford). 

38.  MRS.  G.  B.  FENN 

(nee  Carrie  Higley). 

39.  MRS.  H.  C.  HOUGH 

(nee  Josephine  Case). 

40.  MRS.  H.  L.  SANBORN 

(nee   Frances  Case). 

41.  MRS.  S.  S.  S.  CAMPBELL 

(nee  Lelia  Corey). 


"DYER  CEMETERY,"   CANTON,   CONN. 


ENTRANCE,  "DYER  CEMETERY," 
Erected  by  Hon.  Jasper  H.  Bidwell,  of  Collinsville,  in  Memory  of  Corinne  Beckwith  Bidwell. 


BARBOUR'S    REMINISCENCES 

caused  the  same  to  be  placed  at  the  graves;  and  on  May 
30,  1908,  Memorial  Day,  the  members  of  the  Chapter 
decorated  said  graves.  In  this  matter,  and  in  all  the 
affairs  of  the  Chapter,  Mrs.  D.  T.  Dyer,  the  Organizing 
Regent  of  the  Chapter,  has  rendered  loving,  patriotic  ser- 
vice, in  which  she  has  had  the  hearty  co-operation  of  all 
the  members. 

Hon.  Jasper  H.  Bidwell,  of  Collinsville,  is  great  grand- 
son of  Thomas  Bidwell,  the  first  of  the  above  named  Rev- 
olutionary soldiers. 

S.  B. 


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